Schiaparelli: Dreaming in Pink, Lobsters and Carrots
The Schiaparelli exhibition at the V&A casts a spell from the first step: darkened galleries, dramatic lighting and flashes of gold set the tone immediately. Creating a world where fashion moves beyond clothing and becomes something altogether more extraordinary. Before you even reach the garments, there is a sense that this is not simply an exhibition about a designer, but about imagination itself.
Walking through the first rooms, I was struck by how contemporary Elsa Schiaparelli’s work still feels. Created nearly a century ago, her designs have a boldness and confidence that would not look out of place on today’s runways. One message comes through clearly: Schiaparelli never saw fashion as purely functional. For her, clothing was theatre, art and a way of challenging the ordinary.
Born in Rome in 1890 and later establishing her fashion house in Paris, Schiaparelli became one of the defining creative forces of the twentieth century. Her collaborations with artists such as Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau turned fashion into a space where surrealism could be worn on the body. Moving through the galleries, it becomes impossible to separate the worlds of art and fashion; each enhances the other.
One of the exhibition’s greatest strengths is its focus on her fascination with illusion. Embroidered faces, unexpected silhouettes and playful motifs appear throughout, encouraging visitors to look twice. What first appears elegant often reveals something mischievous beneath the surface. Nowhere is this clearer than in a jacket covered in eyes. One sleeve is embroidered with rows of lifelike eyes peering out from delicate foliage, while the other is encrusted with gilded noses and lips among swirls of gold. The jacket is from Schiaparelli’s Autumn/Winter 2021 haute couture collection, designed by Daniel Roseberry, and a framed photograph beside it shows Lady Gaga wearing it on the covers of British Vogue and Vogue Italia in December 2021, photographed by Steven Meisel. It is unsettling and beautiful in equal measure, and I couldn’t look away.
Among the highlights are the pieces created with Dalí. The famous Lobster Dress commands attention, not only for its now-iconic status but because of how daring it must have seemed when first unveiled. The placement of the lobster feels deliberately provocative, turning a simple white silk gown into a surrealist statement. Standing in front of it, I admired Schiaparelli’s willingness to embrace humour within haute couture, something that still feels surprisingly radical.
For her, clothing was theatre, art and a way of challenging the ordinary.
Elsewhere, intricate embroidery and embellishment show the extraordinary craftsmanship behind the house. Gold thread, beads, sequins and sculptural details catch the light as you move through the space. As with the Marie Antoinette exhibition, I lingered over the workmanship. The closer I looked, the more astonishing the detail became: every stitch feels intentional, every embellishment carefully considered. The humour is in the detail, too. A magenta velvet waistcoat is scattered with tiny embroidered vegetables and fastened with carrot and cabbage buttons, their leaves picked out in green thread. It is the kind of piece that makes you smile before you realise how much skill went into it.
The exhibition also shows how Schiaparelli’s work reflected the moment she was living in. A pink silk gown printed with swallows, envelopes and violets was worn to the Eiffel Tower’s 50th anniversary ball in June 1939. The label reads the birds in flight as a sign of hope and renewal, and the ruched, rippling hem gives the dress a sense of movement even behind glass. Nearby, a red evening coat from the Summer 1939 collection responds to the looming threat of war with a more backward-looking mood. Its 19th-century bustle draws the eye to the back, where a long train sweeps across the floor of a hand-drawn, line-art room. The setting turns the display into a stage set, and the coat into a character.
No discussion of Schiaparelli would be complete without her signature colour, Shocking Pink. Flashes of the vibrant hue punctuate the darker galleries, and even today it feels rebellious and energetic. It is impossible to see it without thinking of Schiaparelli herself. Long before branding became central to fashion houses, she understood the power of a visual identity people would instantly recognise.
Accessories play a starring role. Jewellery, perfume bottles and hats show how she extended her surrealist vision beyond clothing, and rather than finishing touches, they feel like artworks in their own right. Some are playful, others slightly unsettling, but all reflect her determination to challenge expectations. The jewellery captivated me most, with familiar motifs transformed into something unexpected and wonderfully strange.
As the exhibition progresses, the connections between Schiaparelli’s work and contemporary fashion become increasingly apparent. Many of the ideas that dominate today’s runways, such as exaggerated proportions, trompe-l’oeil effects and the blending of art with fashion, can be traced back to her. Seeing these pieces in person reinforces just how far ahead of her time she was.
The final rooms are especially striking, bringing her legacy into the present day under Daniel Roseberry, the American designer, formerly of Thom Browne, who took the reins of the house in April 2019. Among the contemporary pieces, one dress stopped me in my tracks: a strapless satin corset laced up the front, its skirt a sculptural burst of pleated, raw-edged fabric curling outwards. It is part armour, part ballet costume, and it shows how the house still treats the body as a canvas for invention. Rather than feeling historical, the exhibition feels remarkably current.
By the end, I felt completely immersed in Schiaparelli’s world. This is not simply an exhibition about beautiful clothes; it is about creativity without limits. The garments, accessories, sketches and collaborations come together to create something imaginative and unforgettable. I left feeling that Schiaparelli achieved something few designers ever do: she transformed fashion into art, and in doing so changed the way we see both.
CREDITS:
You may also like
Viktor & Rolf: Street Style and the Audience
Viktor & Rolf couture captivates Paris with quirky fashion, bold street style, celebrity glamour, an
Petals across time
In Funny Face (1957), Audrey Hepburn spins with arms full of flowers as Fred Astaire shouts, "More,
Nymph Errant
A poetic exploration of sheer fashion—where transparency, history, and innovation meet in fluid, w