Introduction

Elsa Schiaparelli was an Italian fashion designer, who along with Coco Chanel, was a leader of fashion between the two World Wars. In the 1930s, she became the new star of Paris by launching a counterattack to Hollywood’s populist appeal (Vogue). She drew her ideas from Dadaism and Surrealism, and with help from other artists and surrealists, she was able to take her influences from art and apply them directly to her designs. “Schiaparelli liked nothing better than to amuse, either by wit or shock. Her clothes were smart, sophisticated, and often wildly eccentric, but she had a huge following (Thames).”