IT TOOK SOME YEARS FOR THE REVIVED MAISON SCHIAPARELLI TO CLAIM BACK ICONIC STATUS IT ONCE HELD. BUT AS THE WORLD FALLS IN LOVE AGAIN WITH ITS INVENTIVE IMAGINATION AND REVOLUTIONARY VISION, IT′S TIME TO PAY TRIBUTE TO THE FOUNDER - INIMITABLE SCHIAP.
Elsa Schiaparelli - or Schiap as she called herself - didn′t have any formal training in fashion design but she was artistic, inventive and free-spirited from childhood. She was born in Rome in 1890 to the wealthy family of aristocrats and scholars. Elsa′s early interest in transformative aspect of fashion came from rather heartless remarks of her mother who used to say that Elsa was as ugly as her sister was beautiful.
No wonder that idea of transformation, preferably instant and magical, took deep roots in young Elsa′s head. She became interested in everything connected to the theme - from contents of her mother′s wardrobe to ancient myths, mysticism and surrealistic art. Later, she even influenced some of the latter by telling close friend Salvador Dalí the story of her childhood attempt to transform herself into a garden by planting flower seeds in her throat, ears, nose and eyes. Flower-headed women went on to serve as a center of at least three Dali`s paintings.
Elsa′s free spirit and unconventional interests put her in a lot of trouble with her conservative family. At 23, she ran away from home, married a con-artist posing as spiritual teacher with mystical powers, and ended up in Paris where she almost accidentally discovered a talent for fashion design. She befriended an Armenian woman who did hand-knitting and placed an order for the pullover of her own design, based on optical illusions. It was meant to be a one-of-a-kind thing for herself but the design started ′trending′ as we would say nowadays.
In 1927, Schiaparelli launched her career by selling hand-knitted sweaters with a ′trompe l′œil′ motif from her apartment. By 1932, she was the proud owner of the fashion salon with eight very busy ateliers. Elsa picked technical skills of pattern-making and clothing construction as she went, using tips from her mentor, renown fashion designer Paul Poiret, who taught her how to drape fabric directly on the body.
In 1935, Elsa moved to 21 Place Vendôme, the address that is now associated with Maison Schiaparelli yet again. By this time, her brand had expanded with perfume, jewelry, and accessories. She collaborated with great artists such as Salvador Dalí, Jean Cocteau, Elsa Triolet, who saw her as a creative force to be reckoned with. At some point Schiaparelli was proclaimed a contender for the title of ′Fashion Queen′ firmly occupied by Coco Chanel. Critics called Elsa a visionary who can see far into the future, and they were not wrong. She introduced ′shocking pink′, a color that many years later took the world by storm. She was the first to add matching jackets to evening dresses, incorporate interior bras in swimsuits, make fastenings - zippers and buttons - visible and turn them into accents. Inspiration behind Elsa′s avant-garde creations came from various sources such as Italian folklore, Eastern philosophies and religions that were the academic specialty of her father, astronomy she learned from her uncle, theosophy, occult teachings, and the artistry of her friends. She used principles of Euclidian geometry, innovative fabrics and prints (including newspaper print), materials that changed with the lighting, and strong contrasting colors.
Although Elsa was undoubtedly gifted and sophisticated, her business instincts were not as sharp as they should have been in challenging times after WW2. Maybe it was because she had always been wealthy and quite uninterested in becoming wealthier. Maison Schiaparelli closed due to bankruptcy in 1953. Elsa retired with no particular regrets and died twenty years later out of the spotlight.
Maison Schiaparelli reopened in 2012 and bloomed with the appointment of Daniel Roseberry as its artistic director. He says: ᳓I am blown away and humbled by the relevance that Schiap′s work still has. The more I reference it and use it as a starting point, the better it makes my creations. What I enjoy the most is that with Chanel, Dior or Balenciaga you get a vision, savoir-faire, technique, world-changing silhouettes - but not true personality or sense of humor like you do with Schiaparelli. That is her greatest legacy, and what gives me permission to imbue that into my work as well᳓.
WE TIPS
From autobiography Shocking Life by Elsa Schiaparelli:
᳓Know yourselves. When you take off your clothes, your personality also undresses and you become quite a different person᳓.
᳓Dare to be different᳓.
