Schiaparelli & the artists

This colourful illustration by Christian Bérard depicts a key silhouette of the Schiaparelli style. From the early 1930s, Elsa Schiaparelli was the first designer to suggest combining evening jackets with long dresses. Here, a jacket in pink canvas, embroidered with flowers, was worn with a long body-skimming skirt in silk muslin from the Autumn 1937 Haute Couture collection. The butterfly in the centre referenced her famed previous collection, inspired by butterflies.

Elsa Schiaparelli proclaimed a deep admiration for her friend Christian Bérard, called “Bébé”. In her autobiography Shocking Life, she wrote “To be approved and admired – and sometimes befriended – by Bébé was a consecration in the artistic, social and intellectual world of Paris”. The multi-talented artist collaborated numerous times with Elsa Schiaparelli. He created fashion illustrations, exclusive prints and even a painted folding screen for the showroom of her Couture House.