The Wick List

Viewing Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art

The Wick Culture - Portrait of Nusch Eluard by Pablo Picasso. Oil on canvas, 1937 © GrandPalaisRmn (musee national Picasso, Paris) Adrien Didierjean

Above Portrait of Nusch Eluard by Pablo Picasso. Oil on canvas, 1937 © GrandPalaisRmn (musee national Picasso, Paris) Adrien Didierjean

The Wick Culture - Schiaparelli Haute Couture Fall Winter 2024 Look 30. Photo © Giovanni Giannoni. Photo courtesy Patrimoine Schiaparelli, Paris

Above Schiaparelli Haute Couture Fall Winter 2024 Look 30. Photo © Giovanni Giannoni. Photo courtesy Patrimoine Schiaparelli, Paris

The Wick Culture - Lobster Telephone. 1938, Salvador Dalí (c) Salvador Dalí, Gala-Salvador Dalí FoundationDACS, London 2026

Above Lobster Telephone. 1938, Salvador Dalí (c) Salvador Dalí, Gala-Salvador Dalí FoundationDACS, London 2026

The Wick Culture - Evening coat, designed by Elsa Schiaparelli and Jean Cocteau, 1937, London, England © 2025 ADAGP DACS Comite Cocteau, Paris. Photograph © Emil Larsson

The Wick Culture - Leonor Fini for Schiaparelli, perfume bottle ‘Shocking’, 1937 © 2025 ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London. Photo: Patrimoine Schiaparelli, Paris. Photograph © Emil Larsson

The Wick Culture - Choker by Schiaparelli, Pagan collection, Fall 1938. Photograph © Emil Larsson

Above Choker by Schiaparelli, Pagan collection, Fall 1938. Photograph © Emil Larsson

The Wick Culture - Kuba Dabrowski Awar Odhiang, Paris, 2025 Schiaparelli by Daniel Roseberry Schiaparelli haute couture fall winter 2024 © Kuba Dabrowski. Photo courtesy Patrimoine Schiaparelli, Paris

Above Kuba Dabrowski Awar Odhiang, Paris, 2025 Schiaparelli by Daniel Roseberry Schiaparelli haute couture fall winter 2024 © Kuba Dabrowski. Photo courtesy Patrimoine Schiaparelli, Paris

Above Portrait of Nusch Eluard by Pablo Picasso. Oil on canvas, 1937 © GrandPalaisRmn (musee national Picasso, Paris) Adrien Didierjean

Above Schiaparelli Haute Couture Fall Winter 2024 Look 30. Photo © Giovanni Giannoni. Photo courtesy Patrimoine Schiaparelli, Paris

Above Lobster Telephone. 1938, Salvador Dalí (c) Salvador Dalí, Gala-Salvador Dalí FoundationDACS, London 2026

Above Choker by Schiaparelli, Pagan collection, Fall 1938. Photograph © Emil Larsson

Above Kuba Dabrowski Awar Odhiang, Paris, 2025 Schiaparelli by Daniel Roseberry Schiaparelli haute couture fall winter 2024 © Kuba Dabrowski. Photo courtesy Patrimoine Schiaparelli, Paris

V&A South Kensington
Cromwell Road
London
SW7 2RL
28 March – 8 November

Feathers, surrealism, and a dash of scandal—the Schiaparelli exhibition at the V&A museum in South Kensington, isn’t your usual retrospective, as befits a figure like Elsa. Her world is loud, witty, and unapologetically strange. Think lobster dresses, shoe hats, and gowns that look like they’ve leapt straight out of a dream—or perhaps a Salvador Dalí painting (not a coincidence, by the way).

The exhibition traces Schiaparelli’s rise as one of the 20th century’s most daring designers, a woman who rivaled Chanel but played by entirely different rules. Where others sought elegance, she chased imagination. And it shows. Every room feels like opening a different chapter of a fantastical story, stitched together with bold colors, unexpected textures, and a mischievous sense of humor.

But this isn’t just about clothes. It’s about attitude. Schiaparelli understood fashion as performance—an art form that could shock, amuse, and provoke all at once. The curators lean into this, creating a space that feels immersive rather than archival. What’s especially striking is how modern it all feels. In an era obsessed with pushing boundaries, Schiaparelli seems less like a historical figure and more like a contemporary disruptor. This show also reminds us: fashion is so much more than what we wear.