The Victoria & Albert Museum is opening a new exhibition titled 'Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art' on 28 March, according to multiple reports. Major media indicate this is the UK's first dedicated showcase on Elsa Schiaparelli, spanning from the 1920s to the present day. The exhibition includes 400 objects and runs until 8 November.
Highlights include Salvador Dalí's Lobster Telephone and the Lobster Dress created with Schiaparelli, which was famously worn by Wallis Simpson. Another collaboration with Dalí is the Skeleton dress with 3D quilting resembling bones, and the exhibition includes an evening coat with pink silk roses created with Jean Cocteau. Major media report that Elsa Schiaparelli was the first major couturier to closely collaborate with surrealist artists like Salvador Dalí, Jean Cocteau, and Meret Oppenheim.
For me, dress designing is not a profession but an art.
Schiaparelli opened her first Paris business in 1927 and introduced 'shocking pink' as her signature color in 1937, according to major media. She designed clothes for Mae West and Marlene Dietrich, and died in Paris in 1973 at age 83 following a stroke, with reports indicating she was buried in a magenta-hued outfit. Current creative director Daniel Roseberry continues Schiaparelli's legacy, dressing stars like Margot Robbie and Ariana Grande, multiple reports indicate.
Ariana Grande wore a red jewel-encrusted dress with a ruby slipper protruding from the back to last year's Oscars. A gala dinner for the exhibition was held in South Kensington, London, on Tuesday evening, major media report. Attendees at the gala included Elizabeth Debicki, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Vick Hope, Calvin Harris, Angelina Kendall, Maggie Maurer, Naomi Ackie, Regina King, and Edward Enninful.
I like to amuse myself through some of my creations. If I didn't, I should die.
Elizabeth Debicki won her first Emmy award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Princess Diana in The Crown. Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli were rivals who exchanged insults, according to major media. ' According to 1940s Vogue editor Bettina Ballard, Coco Chanel allegedly steered Elsa Schiaparelli into a candlelit chandelier at a costume ball ahead of the Second World War.
Schiaparelli, dressed as a surrealist tree, reportedly went up in flames, with guests squirting soda water on her to put out the blaze. The V&A Museum held a Friday Late evening series in collaboration with the London Games Festival, showcasing independent video games and immersive interactive experiences, major media report. The event included games like Thank Goodness You're Here!
and Sex With Friends. ' The exhibition highlights 125 years of black British music and includes Stormzy's stab-proof vest, designed by Banksy and worn at Glastonbury, as a centrepiece. Other items are Joan Armatrading's childhood guitar, stage outfits from Seal and Poly Styrene, and handwritten lyrics to Michael Jackson's Thriller.
Winifred Atwell's battle-scarred upright piano is exhibited, on which she composed Let's Have Another Party, the UK's first number one single by a black artist in 1954. A new David Bowie exhibition titled 'David Bowie: You're Not Alone' opens at Lightroom in London on 22 April, according to multiple reports. The exhibition features footage of Bowie performing 'Heroes' at Earl's Court in 1978, and Mark Grimmer served as lead designer on the V&A Museum's Bowie Is exhibition in 2013.