{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O138974"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O138974/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PD5534/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PD5534/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2025PD5534","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PD5533","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PD5535","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PD5538","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PD5536","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PD5537","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PD5539","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BF0361","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GA0555","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GA0559","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GA0578","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GA0577","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019MB2884","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O138974","accessionNumber":"T.391 to C-1974","objectType":"Ensemble","titles":[{"title":"Parachute","type":"named collection"}],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Dinner dress ensemble consisting of satin dress and jacket, net blouse and belt.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Elsa Schiaparelli","id":"A2375"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"satin","id":"AAT132902"},{"text":"net","id":"AAT249438"},{"text":"braid","id":"AAT232186"}],"techniques":[{"text":"applique","id":"AAT53646"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Satin with a rippled texture, net ","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Womenswear","id":"THES49044"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2025PD5534","2025PD5533","2025PD5535","2025PD5538","2025PD5536","2025PD5537","2025PD5539","2006BF0361","2013GA0555","2013GA0559","2013GA0578","2013GA0577","2019MB2884"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"SAINS","id":"THES276095"},"free":"","case":"FIG022","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"SAINS","id":"THES276095"},"free":"","case":"FIG022","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"SAINS","id":"THES276095"},"free":"","case":"FIG022","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES306643"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Dress","id":""}],[{"text":"Jacket","id":""}],[{"text":"Blouse","id":""}],[{"text":"Belt","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Paris","id":"x29068"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"Summer 1936","earliest":"1936-01-01","latest":"1936-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"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.  \n\nRef. Paris Centre de Documentation de Costume, <i>Schiaparelli, Album no 11</i>, 1936, p.79.\r\n\r\nThe exact design for this ensemble is reproduced on page 92 of Dilys Blum's book \"Shocking! The art and fashion of Elsa Schiaparelli\", showing the jacket and necktie in a rich blue. The design was also available with a white jacket, such as the ensemble worn by Annabella, the French film star who became a Schiaparelli client in 1933 and went on to marry Tyrone Power in 1939. Blum specifies a linen jacket, however, our ensemble is in satin.\r\n\r\nThe \"Stratospheric\" and \"Aeroplane\" silhouettes of her collection first presented February 1936 (from which this ensemble comes) were inspired by parachutes and aerodynamics. Schiaparelli had been fascinated by the sight of Russian citizens parachuting from a specially set up tower while visiting Moscow. As a child, she had jumped out of a window using an umbrella as a parachute, so this was also reflected in her designs for this collection. Another influence was Leonardo's parachute drawings.\r\n\r\nA key colour from the Summer 1936 collection was \"Helieum\", a shade of oyster-white. (this may be the colour of the jacket)\r\n\r\n- Daniel Milford-Cottam, 2011","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Dinner dress ensemble consisting of satin dress and jacket, net blouse and belt, 'Parachute Collection', designed by Schiaparelli, Paris, summer 1936.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"<i>Fashion : An Anthology by Cecil Beaton</i>. London : H.M.S.O., 1971","id":"AUTH354373"},"details":"","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Haute couture","id":"THES48861"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["T.391-1974","T.391A-1974","T.391B-1974","T.391C-1974"],"accessionNumberNum":"391","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":1974,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Dress","Jacket","Blouse","Belt"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-28","recordCreationDate":"2007-09-06","availableToBook":false}}