Schiaparelli at the V&A: the woman who gave fashion the face of art
- Apr 1
- 3 min read
Elsa Schiaparelli is associated with images deeply embedded in fashion history: a lobster across an evening gown, a skeleton stitched into black jersey, a shoe lifted onto the head as a hat. In those pieces, her entire view of dress is distilled. For Schiaparelli, a dress did not serve the body alone; it carried an idea, humour, intellectual play, and a strong connection to art. Born in Rome in 1890, she lived in London, New York, and Paris, and founded her own house in 1927 after the success of her knitted pullovers with trompe-l’oeil bows. By 1933, she had opened a London branch in Mayfair, and in 1934 she became the first fashion designer to appear on the cover of Time.
From that perspective, Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art at London’s V&A offers the clearest way into her world. It is the first exhibition in the United Kingdom devoted to Elsa Schiaparelli, and it follows the house from the 1920s to the present day under the creative direction of Daniel Roseberry. The exhibition is on view in the Sainsbury Gallery at V&A South Kensington until 8 November 2026.
Once inside the exhibition space, the story begins with that 1927 pullover, its bow rendered as an optical illusion. That piece already carries what would later become the house’s signature: precise tailoring, a taste for visual reversal, and a desire for dress to be read as an image as well. From there, the exhibition moves through daywear, evening gowns, suits, accessories, and perfumes, and presents Elsa Schiaparelli as a designer who brought high fashion into dialogue with art, humour, and Surrealist imagination.
The most compelling galleries bring together works created in close contact with artists. Among them are the Tears Dress, the Skeleton Dress, the evening coat Schiaparelli made with Jean Cocteau, and Dalí’s Lobster Telephone. In doing so, the V&A shows with real precision that, for Schiaparelli, fashion did not lean on art as an ornamental extra. Surrealism was part of the house’s very language. Taken together, these works combine wit, discipline, and sharpness.
Particularly valuable is the section devoted to London. In its chronology, the V&A notes that Schiaparelli opened her London branch on Upper Grosvenor Street in Mayfair in 1933, and this exhibition brings that London dimension out of the shadows and back to the centre. In that way, Elsa Schiaparelli moves beyond the narrow frame of a Paris fashion legend and gains a broader social and commercial context. What appears before the visitor is a woman who understood textiles, the atelier, the market, social standing, and public image.
Another part of that story leads into film. The V&A notes that in 1937 Mae West wore costumes Schiaparelli made for Every Day’s a Holiday. At first glance, that detail may seem small, but it points to an essential quality of the house. From the beginning, Schiaparelli made fashion that worked powerfully before the camera, on stage, and in photographs.
Her designs called for movement, framing, and an audience. That is why this exhibition leads beyond salons and mannequins, towards the culture of a time in which fashion, film, photography, and public appearance were becoming ever more closely entwined.
The final galleries bring the story to Daniel Roseberry. The V&A follows the house into the contemporary period, and the newer designs on view include the gown Ariana Grande wore to the 2025 Oscars. That movement into the present works because the same concerns run through the entire exhibition: sculptural form, marked theatricality, and a strong relationship with public image. In Elsa Schiaparelli’s work, that outlook took shape between the wars, and in the contemporary house it has found a new body.
Across several galleries, the V&A places before the visitor the pullover with the optical bow, Dalí’s Lobster Telephone, Cocteau’s embroidery, the story of the London branch, film costumes, and today’s house under Daniel Roseberry. The working method, circle of collaborators, and breadth of a house that brought high fashion into the centre of the visual culture of its time emerge most clearly here.
Photos: Behind the scenes of Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art at V&A South Kensington. © Jamie Stoker.; Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art at V&A South Kensington. Photos: David Parry / PA Media Assignments.
