The First Famous Collaboration Between A Fashion Designer And An Artist
365 days of fashion: the e-ncyclopedia of fashion
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Elsa Schiaparelli, regarded as one of the most prominent figures in fashion between the two World Wars, was fascinated with Surrealism and liked to explore this movement in her designs (e.g, the trompe l’oeil sweater). She was heavily influenced by Surrealist artists, particularly Man Ray, Jean Cocteau, and Salvador Dali. Schiaparelli’s close friendship with the latter transformed into years of collaboration that changed the course of her life and the history of her brand forever.
The first collaboration between Elsa Schiaparelli and artist Salvador Dalí was a compact powder case in the shape of a rotary phone dial. How surrealist!
But most famously, they worked together on the Lobster Dress in 1937. Inspired by Dalí’s work “Lobster Telephone”,