Cover ‘Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art’ is an exhibition of the designer’s work at the V&A museum. Photo: courtesy of Peter Kelleher/Victoria and Albert Museum, London
‘Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art’ is an exhibition of the designer’s work at the V&A museum. Photo: courtesy of Peter Kelleher/Victoria and Albert Museum, London
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Tatler attended the opening of ‘Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art’, an exhibition both of her designs, those of the house’s current creative director, Daniel Roseberry, and artworks by the likes of Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí
Maison Schiaparelli has taken centre stage at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, with the March opening of the first UK exhibition dedicated to the legendary house. Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art celebrates the life and work of one of the 20th century’s most imaginative forces, Elsa Schiaparelli, who started her business in the 1920s, and collaborated with some of the most influential artists of the century; while also highlighting her enduring influence on the house’s current creative director, Daniel Roseberry.
The exhibition premiered on March 24 with an opening night dinner in the museum’s Raphael Court gallery.
In case you missed it: Inside Villa Schiaparelli, the Milan home of the renowned fashion designer’s astronomer uncle
Above A portrait of Elsa Schiaparelli, photographed by Man Ray. Photo: Courtesy V&A / 2025 Man Ray 2015 Trust. DACS, London. Photo Collection SFMOMA. The Helen Crocker Russell and William H. and Ethel W. Crocker Family Funds purchase
A portrait of Elsa Schiaparelli, photographed by Man Ray. Photo: Courtesy V&A / 2025 Man Ray 2015 Trust. DACS, London. Photo Collection SFMOMA. The Helen Crocker Russell and William H. and Ethel W. Crocker Family Funds purchase
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The evening brought together artists, patrons and friends of the maison; guests included actors Elizabeth Debicki, Regina King, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Chase Infiniti; musicians Rina Sawayama, Gabbriette and Calvin Harris, as well as his journalist wife Vick Hope; and models Angelina Kendall, Farida Khelfa and Marisa Schiaparelli Berenson, Schiaparelli’s granddaughter.
Combining 400 objects—garments, accessories, artworks and rarely seen archival pieces—Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art offers a deep dive into Schiaparelli’s boundary-pushing work at the intersection of fashion, art and performance.
Above Tears dress designed by Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dalí. Photo: courtesy V&A / Emil Larsson
Above Skeleton dress designed by Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dalí. Photo: courtesy V&A/ 2025 Salvador Dali, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, DACS / Emil Larsson
Tears dress designed by Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dalí. Photo: courtesy V&A / Emil Larsson
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Standout pieces include the innovative 1938 Skeleton dress and Tears dress, made in collaboration with Salvador Dalí, as well as works by Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Man Ray and Eileen Agar. As Schiaparelli herself said, “For me, dress designing is not a profession but an art,” a philosophy that comes vividly to life through the exhibition.
The show, which runs until November 8, 2026, unfolds across four thematic sections: Designing the Modern Wardrobe traces Schiaparelli’s rise from launching her business in 1927 to becoming a leading couturier for the modern urban woman by 1934. This area showcases the designer’s early inventions: the trompe-l’œil bow-knot sweater, trouser suits and tailored skirts, striking eveningwear and witty, plaited-hair hats that feel both imaginative and pioneering.
Creative Constellations examines Schiaparelli’s collaborations with leading surrealists, revealing the artistic dialogue that shaped her work. A notable instance is the 1937 Lobster dress created with Salvador Dalí, shown alongside his 1938 Lobster Telephone, the artwork it inspired.
Above ‘Lobster Telephone’ by Salvador Dalí. Photo: courtesy V&A/Salvador Dalí, Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation DACS, London 2026
‘Lobster Telephone’ by Salvador Dalí. Photo: courtesy V&A/Salvador Dalí, Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation DACS, London 2026
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The involvement of several artists extended to shaping the house’s advertising and boutique spaces, a blueprint of creative partnership that redefined the two worlds of fashion and art beyond dressmaking.
Read more: ‘Fashion is art’: when designers reference great artists in their work
The story continues in Beyond Paris—Schiaparelli cemented her international presence by opening her first London salon in Mayfair in 1933, a less well-known but pivotal chapter linking the house to British clients and surrealist circles. On view here is the only known surviving Schiaparelli oyster crinkled rayon wedding dress, worn by philanthropist and fellow designer Rosalinde Gilbert at her London Golders Green Synagogue wedding.
Further exhibits highlight Schiaparelli’s creations from the 1930s to 1950s, showcasing her costumes for British, French and American stage and film productions.
Above Schiaparelli haute couture autumn-winter 2024 collection. Photo: courtesy V&A / Patrimoine Schiaparelli, Paris / Kuba Dabrowski
Above Schiaparelli haute couture autumn-winter 2024 collection. Photo: courtesy V&A / Patrimoine Schiaparelli, Paris / Giovanni Giannoni
Schiaparelli haute couture autumn-winter 2024 collection. Photo: courtesy V&A / Patrimoine Schiaparelli, Paris / Kuba Dabrowski
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Concluding the exhibition is A Golden Thread, a section which connects past and present, and which celebrates how Schiaparelli’s legacy thrives under Daniel Roseberry’s vision. It examines how he has fused Parisian haute couture techniques with American western influences since 2019, and features pieces worn by contemporary fans such as Ariana Grande and Dua Lipa.
Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art is a mesmerising journey through Schiaparelli’s visionary world, juxtaposing her historic masterpieces against Daniel Roseberry’s contemporary interpretations, and celebrating a legacy that continues to inspire and set the standard, nearly a century on.
