Elsa Schiaparelli is one of my all time favorite fashion designers. I am blown away by the level of detail in her work and the sheer originality. Her surrealist fashion collaborations with Salvador Dali are legendary. In May 2012, I drove into New York to see the exhibit of her designs in person at the Met. It was worth the trip to see the buttons she uses up close, alone. I love imagining the bold woman between the wars who wore a bug necklace or a shoe hat.
Her couture house was a Paris staple for 20 years, but closed it's doors in 1954 after being unable to adapt to changes in the fashion industry after the war. Last month it reopened at Place Vendôme in Paris and they are launching their first line in over half a century next February.
In honor of this renewed public interest in this cherished iconoclast, I wanted to share some images of her incredible millinery work.