Evening jacket
Velvet, silk, metal, glass, synthetic lining
Elsa Schiaparelli, Paris, France
Design
Elsa Schiaparelli was one of the great innovators of haute couture in the 1930s, using it as a canvas for art and humour. Her work with artists such as Jean Cocteau and Salvador Dali resulted in surrealist innovations like an evening dress adorned with a painted lobster, and a hat in the shape of a shoe.
This evening jacket is from Schiaparelli’s Autumn/Winter 1937/38 collection, described in Women’s Wear Daily as a collection ‘full of modern baroque whimsy.’ Schiaparelli was among the first to introduce themed collections, tying together the various buttons, fabrics, shapes and accessories around diverse leitmotifs, from the 18th-century Italian commedia dell'arte to the signs of the zodiac.
Schiaparelli flouted convention and brought a sense of fun into fashion, her idiosyncratic novelties mocking the notion of good taste. She collaborated with fabric houses to create novelty prints and materials. But her imagination manifested itself most in fastenings; she became famous for brightly coloured visible zips and outsized, whimsical buttons, which included clowns, rabbit's feet and astrological symbols.
A Schiaparelli customer did not have to worry as to whether she was beautiful or not – she was a type. She was noticed wherever she went, protected by an armour of amusing conversation-making smartness. Her clothes belonged to Schiaparelli more than they belonged to her – it was like borrowing someone else's chic and, along with it, their assurance.
Bettina Ballard, former Vogue editor
Who wore it
Horst P Horst’s study of Elsa Schiaparelli, reflected in a mirror, wearing one of her ensembles.
© Condé Nast Archive/CORBIS
Craft Skills
This simply-tailored evening jacket is the perfect foil for Schiaparelli’s extravagant embellishment. Inspired by a range of historical and traditional embroideries, Schiaparelli used deliberately provocative combinations of old and new techniques and materials. Here, applied metal vine leaves and fronds worked in gold metal strips are interspersed with pink oval glass droplets which form bunches of grapes, which function as buttons.
The embroidery is by Maison Lesage. Founded in 1924, Lesage took over the workshop of the established embroiderer Michonet, famous for undertaking special commissions for the court of Napoleon III and supplying the greatest names in Parisian couture, from Worth to Madeleine Vionnet. Lesage continued in its footsteps and in 2002 became part of Chanel’s Metiers d’art, the artisan partners who contribute to their collections.
Social Culture