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Elsa Schiaparelli’s Exhibition Activity
https://doi.org/10.25281/2072-3156-2025-22-5-548-558
Abstract
The article devotes to the exhibition activity of Elsa Schiaparelli, designer and owner of the haute couture house. This topic has not yet been subject of a special study. The history and theory of curating fashion exhibitions is in demand due to the intensive development of a new discipline — fashion curation. Also, the relevance of the mentioned problems is conditioned by the existing demand for mastering the heritage of Elsa Schiaparelli, a significant figure of the fashion scene of the first half of the 20th century, who had a powerful impact on the formation of the contexts of contemporary fashion. An important part of the Maison Schiaparelli history has been its active and fruitful collaboration with the art world, and one of the overlooked aspects of this co-operation has been its exhibition activity. The article establishes the couturier’s links with the artistic avant-garde, particularly as a participant in the Surrealist project, who was directly involved in landmark exhibitions such as the Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme and First Papers of Surrealism. On the example of Maison Schiaparelli window decoration, the possibility of interpreting the window of a fashion industry enterprise as a place of realization of curatorial practices is considered. The episode of Elsa Schiaparelli’s participation in the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne as an exhibitor at the Pavilion of Elegance is analyzed in detail. For the first time, Russian-language emigrant periodicals are used as a source for this story. Schiaparelli’s approach, which is close to the modern understanding of the exhibition as a medium, is studied, which allows raising such issues as the status of fashion in the art system and the representation of fashion in museum and exhibition spaces. Schiaparelli’s contribution to the formation and design of contemporary practices of fashion exhibition is discussed.
About the Author
Olga M. Lebedeva
National Research University “Higher School of Economics”
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
11 Pokrovsky Blvd., Moscow, 109028, Russia
ORCID 0000-0002-4918-0511; SPIN 3665-6286;
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- Elsa Schiaparelli was a Parisian couturier and the owner of an haute couture house. A prominent figure on the fashion scene in the first half of the 20th century, she maintained wide-ranging and diverse connections with artistic circles. One activity that defined her relationship with representatives of the art world would be defined as “curating” today.
- Elsa Schiaparelli organised the legendary exhibition 'The First Documents of Surrealism' (14 October–7 November 1942, New York), for which she collaborated with Marcel Duchamp and André Breton. The invitations sent to artists by Breton to participate in the exhibition stated: "at the behest of Madame Schiaparelli."
- The Schiaparelli salon windows at 21 Place Vendôme were a Parisian landmark, tourist attraction and meeting place for fashion and art. They were designed by Elsa Schiaparelli's assistant and friend, Bettina Bergery, whose ingenuity and imagination were praised by Salvador Dalí himself.
- By creating a provocative installation for the Pavilion of Elegance at the 1937 World's Fair, Elsa Schiaparelli challenged the traditional way of displaying clothing in exhibitions, and anticipated contemporary fashion curation practices. She was also one of the first to question the boundaries between fashion and art.
Review
For citations:
Lebedeva O.M. Elsa Schiaparelli’s Exhibition Activity. Observatory of Culture. 2025;22(5):548-558. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.25281/2072-3156-2025-22-5-548-558
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