In 1937 Picasso gave the fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli (1890–1973) Birds in a Cage, a painting in which a dove guards a clutch of eggs in a gold-framed enclosure while a large black bird above her fights to break free. Schiaparelli treasured the painting, perhaps seeing in it something of her own struggles: in her early twenties her parents sent her to a convent school in Switzerland, shocked by a volume of erotic poetry she had recently published. It was in Paris, where she arrived in 1922, that she found a milieu that helped her realise her bold ideas about fashion. Inspired and mentored by the couturier Paul Poiret, Schiaparelli made a name for herself as a thoroughly modern designer, conceiving a silk wrap dress, a divided skirt and clothes with visible zippers, among many other garments. The boldness of her designs led Coco Chanel to call her ‘that Italian artist who makes clothes’ – an insult that now reads like a compliment. This exhibition makes clear the variety and originality of Schiaparelli’s invigorating designs and includes not only dresses but also jewellery, shoes and work by the artists who surrounded and inspired her (28 March–8 November).
Find out more from the V&A’s website.
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