As a major exhibition of avant-garde fashion house Schiaparelli opens at London’s V&A, curator Sonnet Stanfill walks Dezeen through five highlights and hidden gems you won’t want to miss.
Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art is the first UK exhibition dedicated to the building founded by the late Elsa Schiaparelli in 1927, known for interpreting the surrealist movement of war through fabric.
Among the 400 items on display are some of the Parisian fashion house’s famous but little-seen pieces, including the one-of-a-kind Skeleton dress designed by Schiaparelli and artist Salvador Dalí in 1938.
“I think there can be a misconception that he took surrealist motifs and attached them to his clothes, when in fact, he was an active partner in the creative process,” V&A senior curator of fashion Sonnet Stanfill told Dezeen.
“His clothes were an expression of surrealist aesthetics that reflected his role as an active opponent in the surrealist movement. In fact, people considered his couture salon in Paris to be the beating heart of the surrealist movement.”
At the V&A, this creative dialogue is seen through more than 50 pieces of art, including Dalí’s famous crab line, placed alongside nearly 100 Schiaparelli dresses.
The exhibition design of the London studio Nebbia promotes the feeling of surrealism by guiding visitors to return several times throughout the exhibition to see the same object from a different perspective and create a feeling of deja vu.
But, Stanfill also wanted to go beyond Schiaparelli’s blockbuster collaborations to highlight other lesser aspects of his work – his unexpected focus on working, for example, and his pieces for private clients in the historic branch of the London house in Mayfair.
“His clothes that are remembered the most, because they are the most recognizable and seem scary in some ways, are his collaborations with Dalí and Jean Cocteau,” the curator explained.
“But I hope that’s not all he’ll be remembered for in the history books, and that’s something we’re working hard to show, that there’s a lot more to it than surrealist interactions,” he continued.
“We’re trying to highlight things that maybe other shows and other publications haven’t delved into.”
This also includes her leading work for stage and screen, which speaks to Schiaparelli’s ability to capture the attention economy long before such an era existed.
“If you take, for example, a theater production in the West End of London in the 1930s, if it was long and all the seats were full, that would reach a quarter of a million people,” Stanfill explained.
“And if your name as a fashion designer is on the program to buy the main lady – Schiaparelli clothes, with an address where you can buy clothes – it was equivalent to a kind of Instagram account.”
In many ways, Stanfill says, this talent is reflected in Schiaparelli’s current creative director, Daniel Roseberry, who has led the fashion house since 2019.
With pieces such as his trompe l’oeil dresses and faux taxidermy, the American designer has managed to bring a new generation of famous fans to the label, creating a generation of social media, whether it’s Bella Hadid or the Kardashians.
“Daniel Roseberry has captured the attention of the social media world,” Stanfill said.
“Schiaparelli celebrates its 100th anniversary next year, and throughout the century, there is this amazing knowledge that is shared to communicate the creative process to a large audience. They may not be consumers or know particularly about fashion. But I think that one does not need to be like that, to understand it.”
Read on for five key features to look out for at the show.
Elsa Schiaparelli evening gown, Fall 1937
“This suit was one of several Schiaparelli collections from the Fall 1937 season to include coats that were intricately embroidered around the neck and down the middle, in the style à la française – the best man’s dress of the late eighteenth century.
“Such an intricate surface decoration evokes the highly skilled decoration created for Schiaparelli in the workshops of the designer firm Lesage. The suit was worn by Lady Alexandra Haig, who chose to wear it in a photo published in the public magazine The Tatler in January 1938.”
Lenor Fini perfume bottle, 1937
“Schiaparelli commissioned his friend, the artist Leonor Fini, to make a bottle of his most famous fragrance, Shocking. Its shape was made in the style of the dress of the actress Mae West, now in Schiaparelli’s atelier, and it had a measuring tape on the shoulders.
“Fini, whose surrealist paintings were often about clothes, was disappointed by the addition of small flowers to his design by Schiaparelli’s commercial manager.”
Skeleton Dress by Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dalí, Summer 1938
“This is the first dress by Elsa Schiaparelli that you will see in the exhibition. It is important because Schiaparelli collaborated with the artist Salvador Dalí to create it. Together, they brought the skeleton to life using the trapunto quilting technique, combining the outline with two layers of fabric with wadding.
“The bare materials, combined with the spine, ribcage, collarbones and hip joints, suggest that we are seeing the flesh and bones of the wearer. It is the only known first costume of a Skeleton.”
Crab row by Salvador Dalí, 1938
“Lobster was a frequent target of Salvador Dalí, who considered them sexually charged. For Schiaparelli’s beachwear, he drew a lobster among parsley, which was transferred to silk by the designer Paul Sache.
“When the poet Edward James commissioned Dalí to create the Lobster Telephone, which the artist created in 1938, it showed the free flow of ideas between the artist, the designer and the writer.”
Ariana Grande’s custom dress by Daniel Roseberry, 2025
Nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the musical Wicked, Ariana Grande took center stage in this glittering dress at the 2025 Oscars.
“The back heel pays homage to Dorothy’s ruby slippers from the original 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. It also references Elsa Schiaparelli’s Shoe hat, created in collaboration with Salvador Dalí.”
Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art runs from 28 March to 1 November 2026 at the V&A. For the latest events on design and architecture around the world, visit the Dezeen Events Guide.
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