Shocking!: The Art and Fashion of Elsa Schiaparelli

Blum, Dilys E.

Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2003. Hardbound. Pink cloth covered boards with white lettering along the spine, color illustrated dustjacket with pink lettering, 320 pp., color and bw illustrations throughout. VG+/VG (minimal shelf wear to dustjacket. Item #101951
ISBN: 9780300100662

"Shocking! explores the Italian-born designer's career from its modernist beginnings in the 1920s and its connections with Surrealism to the upheavals caused by war, the business struggles in the years that followed, and the closing of her salon in 1954. Author Dilys E Blum discusses in detail for the first time Schiaparelli's impact on and relationship with the American fashion industry, which many considered the foundation of her great success. The author also addresses how Schiaparelli's designs during the late 1920s and the early 1930s were acclaimed for the architectural quality of the silhouettes and for the use of unconventional materials, such as rayon textured like tree bark, fastenings fashioned from boot slips, and colorful plastic zippers designed to be seen rather than concealed. After 1935, Schiaparelli's collections took on a new identity from themes developed from her own acerbic and quick-witted observations of the world around her. She also drew inspiration from her close relationship with Paris's artistic community; she posed for Man Ray and collaboarted with such artists are Alberto Giacometti, Salvador Dali, and Jean Cocteau for designs of clothing, fabric, embroidery, jewelry, and advertising." - from dustjacket.