The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2026 - Issue 39

biteexhibition The V&A’s exhibition Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art, the first ever staged in the UK devoted to the Maison, takes her legacy and expands it across a century of innovation. From the 1920s to the present day, it traces the house’s origins from Schiaparelli’s paradigm‑shifting early garments to its cur- rent incarnation under creative director Daniel Roseberry. It comprises over 400 objects, including 100 ensembles and 50 artworks, accessories, jewellery, paintings, photographs, and perfumes. The exhibition positions Schiaparelli at the nexus of interwar creativity. Paris, London, and New York form the geograph- ical constellation of her career, and the V&A highlights both her Parisian headquarters and the London branch of her house. This London focus is particularly resonant given the exhibition’s location, allowing visitors to understand Schiapa- relli not as a distant Parisian legend but as a designer whose influence directly shaped British fashion culture. The first impressive garment upon arrival is Deep Breath, a wool dress from the Schiaparelli by Daniel Roseberry Au- tumn/Winter 2021 collection. Described as disembodied an- atomical fragments, it adds a deeper psychological dimension to the creative director’s garments, accentuating and reversing form. The internal organs appear to rise to the surface, wear- ing a heavy, rhinestone-encrusted brass necklace shaped like human lungs, illuminated by the light. As if in comparison, it stands next to Schiaparelli’s Bare Bones (or Skeleton) from her Summer 1938 Circus collection con- ceived with Dalí. One of the most remarkable pieces of her career, the black silk crêpe dress with padded, anatomical contours, gives the optical illusion of an X-ray. Deep Breath is said to be a conceptual continuation of Bare Bones, with both subverting traditional expectations of glamour by bringing internal anatomical structures to the garment’s exterior. Another striking piece is the silk sari‑inspired coat from the Summer 1935 collection. Made of orange faille woven with green and brown stripes and gilt thread lattice bands, it wraps the body in a dramatic sweep of fabric that drapes over one shoulder, while its curved capelet-like sleeves add sculptural lift. The coat fastens with a single gilt metal button inset with garnet‑like stones. Schiaparelli created this piece after en- countering the Indian Princess Karam of Kapurthala in Paris, inspired by her sari and jewels. The Tears Dress, from Spring 1938, is a sheath‑style evening gown originally pale blue, printed with Dalí’s trompe‑l’œil ‘tears.’ The dress extends into two pointed trains at the back, and its accompanying veil carries real slashed openings lined with pink and magenta fabric. Its use of viscose rayon and plastic zips was experimental for couture at the time, and its surrealist print makes it one of the most iconic garments of Schiaparelli’s career. Behind the scenes of Schiaparelli_ Fashion Becomes Art at V&A South Kensington (c) Jamie Stoker (8)