Even almost 100 years after its founding, Schiaparelli continues to create fashion that pushes the boundaries of art and craftsmanship. The new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum traces this legacy.
Fashion and art are two distinct categories and should be considered separately from one another, or should they? The Met Gala ranks year after year among the most important events of our time when it comes to the staging of fashion. This year’s Met Gala, which took place at the beginning of this week, was held under the promising theme Fashion is Art. The majority of the execution can be considered successful, except for a few celebrities who missed the theme and whose outfits came across more as costumes or reproductions of already existing works of art – rather than as standalone pieces of fashion art.
Precisely in light of this theme and the fact that many still regard fashion and art as separate from one another, the life’s work of the Italian-French fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli feels all the more relevant. Her fashion was and is art. Rather than hanging on walls, it finds its place on the body. The Victoria & Albert Museum in London values exactly this, fashion as independent works of art that define themselves, create innovation, and are hard to surpass in originality. In the form of a comprehensive exhibition titled Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art, the museum presents over 400 exhibits, including 100 individual looks, 50 works of art, various pieces of jewelry, and rare archival material. The exhibition traces the history of the house from the 1920s to the present day and includes a wide range of original works by Schiaparelli herself as well as contemporary reinterpretations by the current creative director Daniel Roseberry.
Both the Skeleton Dress (1938) and the Tears Dress (1938), created in close collaboration with the Surrealist Salvador Dali, as well as the Evening Coat (1937), designed together with Jean Cocteau, are considered particularly iconic examples of Schiaparelli’s work. They underline that art and fashion can indeed go hand in hand. Not to be overlooked are her works in the field of jewelry and accessories. From brooches that looked like insects and buttons that resembled small works of art to gloves with red fingernails made of snakeskin, her creativity, and her talent for being ahead of her time knew no limits.
In fact, the designer already understood early on that fashion is a particularly powerful tool of staging and can generate attention and media impact. With this in mind, she created several pieces for film and stage such as Moulin Rouge (1952) and Every Day’s A Holiday (1937). Her clients included Marlene Dietrich and Mae West, both of whom embodied a self-confident, glamorous, and, for their time, provocative image of femininity – exactly what Schiaparelli herself expressed through her fashion.
But Schiaparelli is not the only one who understood the power of combining fashion and art. Since taking over the house in 2019, Roseberry has managed to both preserve the fashion house’s DNA and reinterpret it in a modern and sculptural way, creating moments that are just as much for the fashion history books: Think about the custom creations for celebrities like Dua Lipa, Zendaya, and Adele. Think about Kylie Jenner wearing the lion head dress at the Haute Couture Spring Summer 2023 show in Paris or Bella Hadid at the Festival de Cannes 2021, wearing a tight black dress with a golden branch covering her chest. Over the past few years, these have been the kind of unforgettable moments that reached even people who usually avoid fashion at all costs. And in doing so, Roseberry has gained relevance in contemporary pop culture, made the brand accessible to a wider audience and ensured that the fashion house successfully maintains and even strengthens its status within couture.
So, whether in the past or in the present, Schiaparelli shows us that in order to define fashion as art, something new must be created. Something that goes beyond reference, is inspired by the world, develops its own visual aesthetic, and dissolves the boundaries between fashion and art. In that sense, this year’s Met Gala theme almost feels less like a question and more like a reminder of what Schiaparelli has been doing all along.
The exhibition will remain open to visitors until November 8.