Wearable Art

Dali & Schiaparelli:

The world of art and fashion has always co-existed. In the spirit of celebrating these alliances, one has to wonder who was the first to leap forward. Known for their surreal silhouettes; Schiaparelli is an haute couture fashion house that collaborated with the king of surrealism, Salvador Dali. What now seems like a match made in heaven was then considered to be a wild experiment through the 1930s and ’40s, that crafted the “art-meets-fashion” series.

Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dali

A formidable Alliance:

Elsa Schiaparelli is known for many firsts, my favourite being, the first designer to introduce a jumpsuit to the fashion stage. Naturally there was a lot of lingering anticipation about the outcome of this union at the time. What really made this creative marriage effortless was the shared value of irony and a mutual appreciation for "shock value".

Art-Meets-Fashion:

The popular lobster dress was seen on the Duchess of Windsor and American socialite, Wallis Simpson. She was photographed by the illustrious fashion and portrait photographer Cecil Beaton in 1937. The two were again on-brand for this collaboration, turning this entire series into a well-narrated story that would be remembered for years to come. The dress now sits proudly at The Philadelphia Museum of Art and was recreated eighty years later, for the Spring 2017 runway collection. Another iconic product of this collaboration was the skeleton dress that was inspired by Dali’s figure sketches.

"Dress designing, incidentally, is to me not a profession but an art"- Elsa Schiaparelli

The Brand DNA:

What is fascinating is that decades later, traces of the collaboration between these two surrealist icons are still at the center of the very essence of the brand. Post their work together Dali went on to produce a collection of jewelry pieces that he created in order to turn women into a part of his performance art series. These pieces are housed in Dali’s Museum in Spain (I have had the privilege of viewing them myself).

It is evident that the pieces created by artistic director Daniel Roseberry are inspired by and pay homage to this very historic union of art and design. His recent pieces echo the same theme throughout the collection. One can only wonder what's next for this iconic fashion house.