{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O133861"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O133861/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PG9003/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PG9003/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2025PG9003","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PG9007","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PG9004","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PG9005","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GA0569","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BF0365","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O133861","accessionNumber":"T.38-1964","objectType":"Jacket","titles":[{"title":"Circus","type":"named collection"}],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Wool crepe jacket with coloured metal and glass beaded appliques on the front, and with large gold-painted cast-metal alloy buttons down the front in the form of circus horses. Concealed pockets behind the appliques. Hip length and shaped to the figure. Wide square padded shoulders. The neck is 'V' shaped with a front triangular turn-back collar. Fastens down the centre front with metal clasps and twisted metal eyes masking which are four cast horses. At each side is a scalloped band, extending to outline the hip pocket in glass bugle beads. Lined with thick matching twilled silk.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Elsa Schiaparelli","id":"A2375"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"wool","id":"AAT243430"},{"text":"metal","id":"AAT10902"},{"text":"glass beads","id":"x35177"}],"techniques":[{"text":"embroidery","id":"x40351"},{"text":"tailoring","id":"x39134"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Wool, painted metal, glass beads, appliqued, padded, lined with silk","categories":[{"text":"Textiles","id":"THES48885"},{"text":"Womenswear","id":"THES49044"},{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"}],"styles":[{"text":"surrealist","id":"AAT21512"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2025PG9003","2025PG9007","2025PG9004","2025PG9005","2013GA0569","2006BF0365"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"SAINS","id":"THES276095"},"free":"","case":"FIG048","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Jacket","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"France","id":"x28849"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1938","earliest":"1938-01-01","latest":"1938-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Mrs P. Otway-Smithers","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"SCHIAPARELLI, 21 PLACE VENDOME, PARIS, 'ETE' 1938","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"On label stitched under the left arm"}],"objectHistory":"Elsa Schiaparelli (1890–1973) was one of the world’s revolutionary fashion designers. Her couture house, one of the most discussed of interwar Paris, redefined fashionable taste and perceptions of beauty in the 20th century.  With no formal training, she launched her first fashion collection in 1927. Her bold, often audacious, haute couture creations soon made her the designer of choice for a confident clientele. Within five years, Maison Schiaparelli employed 400 staff who created over 7000 couture garments each year.  \r\n\r\nOften designing to confront and shock, Schiaparelli’s radical approach embraced the new and experimental, resulting in clothes that were resolutely modern. Perhaps more than any fashion designer of the era, Schiaparelli urged textile manufacturers to bring her their newest and best materials. At the same time, Schiaparelli’s impact extended beyond fashion and she possessed a vibrant artistic sensibility. Embedded within Europe’s creative avantgarde, she positioned her work in direct dialogue with art, design and performance. Her collaborations with artists, including Salvador Dalí, Jean Cocteau and Meret Oppenheim, led to some of her most radical and memorable designs for clothing, accessories and jewellery. In 1954, Schiaparelli officially retired and closed the doors of her couture salon. She left an enduring mark on the world of fashion and a creative legacy that spanned the cities of Paris, London and New York.  \r\n\r\nWorn and given by Mrs P. Otway-Smithers, who said at time of donation that she wore this while \"trotting her horses\".","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Tailored jacket 'The Circus Collection' of wool and glass beads, designed by Elsa Schiaparelli, France, 1938","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Haute couture","id":"THES48861"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"horses","id":"x34864"}],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"surrealism","id":"x35568"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["T.38-1964"],"accessionNumberNum":"38","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":1964,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-06","recordCreationDate":"2007-04-13","availableToBook":false}}