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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Shocking! The Surreal World of Elsa Schiaperelli

George Platt Lynes, Salvador Dalí, 1939.

July 6, 2022 – Jan 2, 2023
107 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, France

The couturière Elsa Schiaparelli made clothing that felt like a dream. Her designs throughout the 1930s were surreal, avant-garde, taking risks previously unthinkable. One moment she was collaborating with Salvador Dalí on a dress meant to look like a human skeleton, the next she was painting a lobster on an evening gown. In a word, she shocked. A true iconoclast, Schiaparelli’s blend of high fashion and high art inspired peers in her time and continues to inspire countless designers today. An exhibition of her astonishing work comes to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. —Sophie Kemp

Photo: Estate of George Platt Lynes