JOIN JANE CONTINUING TO MAKE SENSE OF ART
And this month Jane is looking at surrealism in fashion.
Surrealism was an art and cultural movement in the early 20th century that explored the workings of the unconscious mind, blending realism with dreamlike, illogical scenes. The results were often quite fantastical and we probably immediately think of Salvador Dali’s ‘The Persistence of Memory’ with its melting clocks in a desert landscape or the Lobster Telephone.
The new exhibition at The V & A in London is an exciting blend of surrealism and fashion and is well worth a visit.
Elsa Schiaparelli was an Italian born fashion designer, born in 1890. In 1927 she created the House of Schiaparelli in Paris which she managed until the 1950s. She died in 1973 but her fashion house is still a fashion leader today under Daniel Roseberry.
She was very influenced by many of the surrealists around in the 1930s. Below is the dress she designed for Wallis Simpson based on Dali’s ‘Lobster Telephone’.
Artists were also influenced by her work. The coat below is from her 1939 Spring collection called ‘A Modern Comedy’ and is based on the Harlequin diamond pattern. Man Ray used it in his painting ‘Fair Weather’.
Schiaparelli’s shoe hats, titled ‘Head over Heels’ were inspired by the idea that surrealism turned the world on its head! She was sparked by Dali’s wife, Gala placing a shoe on her husband’s head. The photo below shows Gala wearing a shocking pink version of the Shoe Hat next to a Dali mannequin sculpture. It certainly demonstrates how intertwined their creative lives were.
Schiaparelli loved creating novelty fabric prints, particularly for the American market – the likes of which had never been seen before. The two below are a design of disembodied hands with floating hearts and then another of Paris landmarks.
I particularly loved the evening jacket below called ‘Home Grown’ – a witty observation of the changing role of women during the 2nd world war – the French version of the Land Army, from her Spring 1941 collection.
Today Daniel Roseberry carries on her work, pushing the boundaries, creating extraordinary outfits and accessories for the catwalks around the world – not exactly high street fashion but definitely works of art! He still uses many of her ideas and motifs with the same ‘stop and stare’ effect Schiaparelli commanded in the 1930s and 40s.
