{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O142607"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O142607/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PF2548/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PF2548/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2025PF2548","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PF2549","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PF2547","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PF2550","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PF2580","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O142607","accessionNumber":"T.148-1969","objectType":"Evening 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 gown was 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":"Summer evening dress made of white silk and synthetic crêpe blend printed with a painterly design of bright blue irises against a bold red and black stylised leaf background. The dress is full length. It is backless, sleeveless, and has a high square neckline in the front, and slightly gathered at corners. Wide shoulder straps and is low cut at the centre back where it fastens with a clear plastic zipper down the back. Ruffled finish to side seams.\n\nThe bodice fits loosely, with a high square neck, and frills at the side seams. The waist is shaped by two short horizontal tucks. The skirt, in one with the front bodice, is widely flared with a join diagonally across the centre front to give additional fullness and a seam at the centre back. There is a small tie belt at the centre back. The straps are lined with coloured ninon.\n\nThere is an inserted piece of self material at the top of the bodice on which are signs of gauging.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Elsa Schiaparelli","id":"A2375"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"crêpe","id":"AAT183741"},{"text":"plastic","id":"AAT14570"}],"techniques":[{"text":"printing","id":"AAT53319"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Printed silk and synthetic crêpe blend, ninon, plastic","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":["2025PF2548","2025PF2549","2025PF2547","2025PF2550","2025PF2580"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"SAINS","id":"THES276095"},"free":"","case":"FIG085","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Evening dress","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Paris","id":"x29068"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"probably"},{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"retailed","id":"x30772"},"note":"probably"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1938","earliest":"1938-01-01","latest":"1938-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"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":"Summer evening dress of printed silk and synthetic crêpe, designed by Elsa Schiaparelli, probably made in Paris, probably retailed in London, 1938","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"Probably from Schiaparelli's Pagan Collection of Autumn 1938.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"iris","id":"x31407"},{"text":"stylized leaves","id":"x30132"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"<i><b>Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art</b></i><b> (March - November 2026)</b>\n\nIn bloom\n\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;A curator, and later director, John Pope-Hennessy. \n\nElsa Schiaparelli\r\nAbout 1938\r\nDesigned in Paris; made in London\r\nSilk\r\nV&amp;A: T.148–1969\nGiven by Maud Russell\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":"2026","earliest":"2026-01-01","latest":"2026-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["T.148-1969"],"accessionNumberNum":"148","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":1969,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-07-30","recordCreationDate":"2008-01-03","availableToBook":false}}