{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O142600"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O142600/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PF2721/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PF2721/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2025PF2721","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PF2722","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PF2720","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PF2736","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PF2732","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O142600","accessionNumber":"T.149-1969","objectType":"Dinner dress","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"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.  \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\nThis floral evening gownwas made and sold in Schiaparelli's London salon which opened at 6 Upper Grosvenor Street in the fashionable shopping district of Mayfair in 1933.\r\n","physicalDescription":"Full-length dinner dress of white silk and synthetic crêpe blend. Printed with a bold painterly pattern of green, yellow and black flowers. With a square neckline in front, square padded shoulders and full-length sleeves, slightly gathered at the shoulder and shaped with tucks inside the elbow and tapering towards the wrist. Draped at the waist and attached to metal rings at the sides of the waist. With side fastening of metal rings and hooks.\n\nThe bodice is loosely cut and there is a waist line dipping slightly at the centre back. The full-length skirt flares widely. It has a centre front and back seam with additional gores at the hem at these points. Flared hemline. There is a wide sash of self material which passes twice around the waist to hook onto the rings at the front. Side placket with fasteners of white enamelled flat knobbed hooks and large circular eyes.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Elsa Schiaparelli","id":"A2375"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"silk (textile)","id":"AAT243428"}],"techniques":[{"text":"printing","id":"AAT53319"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Printed silk and synthetic crêpe blend, metal","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Womenswear","id":"THES49044"},{"text":"Evening wear","id":"THES48999"},{"text":"Textiles","id":"THES48885"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2025PF2721","2025PF2722","2025PF2720","2025PF2736","2025PF2732"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"SAINS","id":"THES276095"},"free":"","case":"FIG086","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Dress","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Paris","id":"x29068"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"possibly"},{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"retailed","id":"x30772"},"note":"possibly"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1938","earliest":"1933-01-01","latest":"1942-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Mrs Gilbert Russell","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.  ","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Full-length dress of printed silk and synthetic crêpe blend, designed by Elsa Schiaparelli, possibly made in Paris and possibly retailed in London, ca. 1938","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"daffodils","id":"x40749"},{"text":"fuchsias","id":"x37816"},{"text":"lilac","id":"x31064"},{"text":"convolvulus","id":"x39098"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"<i><b>Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art</b></i><b>(March - November 2026)</b>\r\n\r\nIn bloom\r\n\r\nThese two dresses, with patterns reminiscent of lush summer gardens, are from the wardrobe of art collector Maud Russell (born Nelke). She defied convention both through her avant-garde taste and secret wartime work for the British Naval Intelligence Division. Her friends included photographer Cecil Beaton, art critic Clive Bell,\r\nart historian Kenneth Clark and V&amp;amp;A curator, and later director, John Pope-Hennessy. \r\n\r\nElsa Schiaparelli\r\nAbout 1938\r\nDesigned in Paris; made in London\r\nSilk\r\nV&amp;A: T.148–1969\r\nGiven by Maud Russell\r\n\r\nElsa Schiaparelli\r\nAbout 1938\r\nDesigned in Paris; made in London\r\nSilk\r\nV&amp;A:T.149-1969\r\nGiven by Maud Russell","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["T.149-1969"],"accessionNumberNum":"149","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":1969,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-07-30","recordCreationDate":"2008-01-03","availableToBook":false}}