Fashion

Inside the Shocking And Extraordinary World Of Schiaparelli at the V&A

Author March 26, 2026

At the Victoria & Albert museum’s latest exhibition dedicated to Elsa Schiaparelli (and Daniel Roseberry), Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art, one is astonished by the sheer modernity and invention of Schiap. (Daniel is a talented designer, but I’m going to focus on Elsa’s remarkable things here. Daniel’s own extraordinary creations are in all of our living memories, and they each have a story that he has told, so they answer for themselves. By the way, they are extraordinary!)

One starts as I did in an entrance gallery room that shows Schiap – large as life – seated in her 21 Place Vendôme salon, with the Colonne Vendôme behind her, clearly seen through her tall, ruffled net curtains. On the walls, one has a taste of her newspaper print from 1935, with clippings of Women’s Wear Daily et al, with Schiap innovations on every page.

There is a trio of sweaters knitted by Armenian women, with a tromple l’oeil of scarves, with which Schiap first made her name. (This show has been curated by Sonnet Stanfill and what a job she has done).

Image may contain Architecture Building Indoors Museum Interior Design Floor Adult Person and Flooring

At the back of the room, there is a dress, seen through an arched opening. (The exhibition is very well designed, with reveals and amassed collections of jackets, hats, bottles of perfume and dresses.) The dress on the left, made for the actor Ruth Ford, is an absolute wonder to behold. She was a sister to the surrealist writer Charles Henri Ford, (who was acquainted with Elsa Schiaparelli), and her looks and allure were striking. It’s an astonishingly modern piece, a sheath of black jersey, arms and neck covered, and then padded out with bone formations. It is based on the sketches of Schiap’s friend Salvador Dalí (also to be seen in this exhibition). “Dear Elsa,” Dalí wrote, “I like this idea of ‘bones on the outside’ enormously.” It’s been cleverly placed so that when one comes around again to it (several rooms later), one then sees the back which is padded with “bones” too.

Andrew Bolton had desperately wanted it for his Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations show, in 2012, but it was deemed too fragile to travel. (This may well be the last time it is put on show, because of its delicate condition).