THE ART OF SCHIAPARELLI

It's nearly 100 years since Schiaparelli burst on to the scene, and the label's surreal yet disarmingly practical designs are having a moment

- INTERVIEW: SOPHIE HAMILTON

This is the year of Schiaparelli.

Ninety-nine years after the French fashion house was founded by Elsa Schiaparelli, who was behind some of the most famous dresses of the Thirties, it is the name on everyone’s lips.

Postwar financial difficulties forced its closure in 1954, but after being shut for nearly 60 years, Schiaparelli reemerged in 2012. It is now in the thick of a renaissance, with celebrities flocking to wear its fashion-meets-fine art creations.

In January, at the Los Angeles premiere of Wuthering Heights, Margot Robbie was resplendent in a custom-made Schiaparelli gown, featuring a Chantilly lace corset and a voluminous skirt.

In February, the singer Bad Bunny collected his Grammy Award for album of the year in a Schiaparelli smoking suit. The label was also worn by the prize’s 2024 and 2025 winners, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.

And this month, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London opens the doors to Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art.

"I can't wait to share the exhibition with people," says Sonnet Stanfill, who co-curated the retrospective with Lydia Caston and Rosalind McKever. The team has been working on the project for the past two years.

"Elsa’s [fashion] house lay dormant for many years until it was recently revived very successfully," Sonnet tells us. "What's exciting for me as a curator is to introduce her to a public who may not know her well."

Elsa was born to an aristocratic family in Rome in 1890 – she died in 1973, aged 83 – and became known both as a designer and as an artist pushing the boundaries of fashion.