A01=Elsa Schiaparelli
Author_Elsa Schiaparelli
Balenciaga
Category=AGA
Category=AKT
Category=DNBF1
Cecil Beaton
Chanel
Cocteau
couture
Dali
design
Dior
Duchamp
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_new_release
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
Fashion
fashionista
Futurists
Giacometti
Gift Book
Guggenheim
jewellery
Lady Gaga
Magritte
Man Ray
Max Ernst
Paris
photography
Picasso
style
Surrealism
Surrealists
V&A
Victoria and Albert Museum
Wallis Simpson
Product details
- ISBN 9781838510626
- Dimensions: 270 x 304mm
- Publication Date: 19 Feb 2026
- Publisher: V & A Publishing
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
‘I merely know Schiap by hearsay. I have only seen her in a mirror. She is, for me a kind of fifth dimension.’ – Elsa Schiaparelli
Elsa Schiaparelli is one of the most celebrated fashion designers of the twentieth century. Recognized for her unique creative vision, which combined a love of art and mysticism with ingenious design talent and wit, her collaborations with Surrealist artists, affluent and famous clientele, and innovative – yet wearable – designs set ‘Schiap’ apart from her contemporaries.
With a cast of characters that includes Coco Chanel, Salvador Dalí, Daisy Fellowes and Eva Perón, Shocking Life is a lively, idiosyncratic and fascinating account of the life and career of Elsa Schiaparelli – in her own, inimitable voice. This deluxe edition, illustrated with a selection of some of her most iconic designs, takes us from her somewhat conventional childhood in Rome, where she was surrounded by academics and aristocrats, through the establishment of her couture house during the turbulence of the 1920s, on to her dominance of 1930s fashion, and the fate of her house during World War Two.
Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) was one of the leading fashion designers of the mid-20th century. Known for her wit and flair for the unusual, she fused fashion with Surrealism to create iconic designs that remain striking today.
Sonnet Stanfill is Senior Curator of Textiles and Fashion at the V&A.
Sonnet Stanfill is Senior Curator of Textiles and Fashion at the V&A.
