The Legacy of Elsa Schiaparelli: Most Iconic Looks of All Time

Schiaparelli’s recent Fall 2024 Haute Couture collection has lived in the back of my mind, where Daniel Rosenberry, creative director of Schiaparelli, showcased a beautiful array of looks paying homage to the fearless and surrealist nature of Elsa Schiaparelli. From the show-opening of the Phoenix cape with exaggerated shoulders, to embroidered tulle skirts, the collection brilliantly captures the innovative power that Elsa possessed and her unparalleled ability to elicit transfixing emotions. “I wanted people to feel the collection was referencing a different time,” Roseberry tells Vogue in a recent interview in which he recalls the fresh feel of Schiaparelli’s earlier couture collections. I couldn’t help but also reminisce on Elsa’s iconic designs that paved the way for her success and changed the script of fashion…

In 1927, Elsa's career launched after the widespread attention she received from her modernized “Bow Sweater”, which debuted in Vogue that December. The visionaries' quick rise to fame soon encouraged her to start her own business.

Schiaparelli designed the first jupe culotte worn by tennis phenomenon Lili Alavrez. This divided skirt took the tennis world by storm and challenged individuals to embrace the spirit of creativity.

In 1937, Elsa collaborated with Salvador Dali, a Spanish painter known for his surrealism. Together they designed the “Shoe Hat”, inspired by a comical photo of Dali with his wife’s slipper on his head.

This illusionistic “Tears Dress” was also born from a collaboration of Schiaparelli and Dali and is one of her most well-known designs.

Insects became a popular source of inspiration for Schiaparelli in 1938, where she often used butterflies, beetles, flies, and other critters in her designs to create her “Insect Collection”.

In 1938, Schiaparelli designed the ‘Hall of Mirrors Jacket’ inspired by the splendor of the Palace of Versailles and the hall's great archways and mirrors. The panels adorning the jacket were purposefully placed on the bust so that those who were caught gazing in that direction were quickly confronted with their own self-image. This was a clever symbolization of the way in which women were perceived during this era, and often Schiaparelli enjoyed creating pieces that had a shock factor.

Schiaparelli’s inclusion of astrology and the 18th century continued to change the game of fashion with embroidered celestial citations and wearable cosmic art. Elsa specifically references King Louis XV and his ties to the Sèvres Porcelain Factory in France with the pink and white porcelain inspired applique adorning the black wool coat.