Schiaparelli & the artists

In May, 1935, Man Ray took this portrait of Nusch Eluard, wife of the surrealist poet Paul Eluard. She wore a sari dress from the Schiaparelli Stop, Look and Listen collection presented in February, 1935.

Inspired by Indian costume, in electric blue or desert rose rayon crepe, this dress came with a shawl, or irham, which could cover the head like a veil. It was attached at the lower back by a large stamped gold clip.

In this photograph, Nusch Eluard held a Schiaparelli fan in sparkling “glass” made of Rhodophane, a cellophane fabric; a small vanity case in the shape of a golden egg hangs from her left wrist.