By Anne-Marie Jones

Everyone knows Coco Chanel, but you should also know the amazing history of Elsa Schiaparelli, a fashion designer who deserves to be better known.

Elsa Luisa Maria Schiaparelli – Born in 1890, in Italy, and died in 1973, in France.

Born into an aristocratic family, Elsa quickly showed she had a keen talent for art and fashion.

Elsa moved to France in 1922, and became in involved in the arts and fashion scenes. She had no formal training in fashion design, but with the support of her creative friends, she launched her first clothing brand – it didn’t last long but she tried again, and finally made it into a success.

Elsa used a lot of Surrealist influence in her work, and collaborated with Salvador Dali, Jean Cocteau (an artist, poet, and creative in many fields, perhaps best known for his Beauty and the Beast film, which is visually fascinating and considered a film classic) and Man Ray.

She continued to work on her fashions, and eventually her work grabbed the attention of Vogue magazine, and became successful. She was recognised for her creative and original ideas, including trompe-l’oeil details, fabric ‘draping’, and visible zippers (which was unusual for it’s time).

Above – “Shocking” Perfume by Elsa Schiaparelli (inspired by Mae Wests torso measurements, Schiaparelli was the costume designer on the Mae West film “Every Day’s A Holiday”).

Beyond fashion, Elsa designed jewellery and perfume as well as costumes for a few films, including the 1952 “Moulin Rouge” featuring Zsa Zsa Gabor.

The Schiaparelli brand is still going very strong to this day (check out our coverage of Paris Fashion Week recently featuring Schiaparelli). It was officially closed in 1954, but then re-opened a few years later, mostly for perfumes, and evolved into the house that is now run by Daniel Roseberry.

Elsa Schiaparelli certainly has a very important place in fashion history, and deserves to be remembered!