Elsa schiaparelli

The Italian designer, whose birthplace was Paris, is a revolutionary in the world of fashion in the early and mid-twentieth century, who came up with pret a porter - a line of finished clothes ...

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Elsa Schiaparelli born in the century before last - in 1890, in a family of Italian aristocrats and from childhood attracted attention by eccentric antics. In her youth, after an unsuccessful marriage with a London aristocrat, she was left alone with her little daughter, first in New York - where she joined a fashion boutique and then moved to Paris. In parallel, Elsa entered the service of an antique store (many researchers of her work are of the opinion that it was the things from this store that determined her future style). Then she opens a knitwear company and hires Armenian knitters. Her first hit was a black sweater with a large white knitted bow on her chest, peeped at one of her friends. In 1927, a furor in the fashion world made her black knit dress.

Following this success, Elsa receives an order for a sportswear line from the company. STRAUSS and soon (in 1928) opens his Fashion House in Paris. Omar, or lobster (Salvador Dali), African patterns, motifs for sailor tattoos - Elsa Schiaparelli's fantasy knew no bounds.
A few years later, Elsa creates a line of evening dresses - and again makes a revolution in the fashion world: a black sheath dress plus a jacket plus a white scarf thrown to the back.

But the fashion designer still does not limit her imagination and is fond of fashionable surrealism.Under the influence of this artistic movement, she creates such iconic things as a hat-worn shoe, a necklace made of aspirin tablets or from naturalistically made insects on transparent plastic, a jacket worn back to front, a scarf with prints of newspaper articles, a silk dress with a pattern of torn from fabric shreds , a handbag, a telephone, an apple or a balloon ...

Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Katherine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, May West, Norma Shearer (and not only they) wore her things not only in life, but also on the screen. And I must admit that in the movie Elsa's outfits looked much more expressive than the dresses and costumes of Coco Chanel.
During the period of the occupation of Paris during World War II, Elsa Schiaparelli emigrated to the United States. After the war, returning to Paris, she discovers that Christian Dior took the lead in the fashion world. And Elsa, having released the last collection in 1953, gives up fashion design classes and spends the rest of the days among the people of the art world.
Elsa Schiaparelli died in Paris in 1973 and was buried in a silk shokingpink suit, which she introduced into fashion back in 1936.
The simplicity, versatility, originality and theatricality of Schiaparelli's models have always been shocking. She always experimented very confidently with colors, materials and accessories. Once having seen the model of Schiaparelli, it was simply impossible to forget her!

Last July (2013), Christian Lacroix was offered to create the first haute couture collection for the revived Elsa Schiaparelli fashion houses. In just 3 days, visitors could enjoy 18 images at the Paris Museum of Decorative Arts. And yet, this exhibition has become one of the most talked about news in the world of haute couture.
“The creation of this collection was a wonderful fairy tale,” Christian Lacroix admitted sadly: “It was like in a dream, and tomorrow it will all end” ...
Nevertheless, the autumn-winter collection demonstrated the depth of Lacroix's penetration into Schiaparelli's style and, of course, his own skill. Surrealistic lobsters of Salvador Dali, monkey fur, acid green chiffon, beaded cashmere coat dress, satin dress in pink and black stripes with a huge bow - a whole world, unique, extravagant and unforgettable ...
Photo: images / de; burdastyle; catwalkpix.com.
Material prepared by Elena Karpova