{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O15655"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O15655/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AC7426/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AC7426/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AC7426","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PE4884","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PE4885","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PE4883","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020MU3095","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BF0366","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AU6023","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O15655","accessionNumber":"T.388-1974","objectType":"Jumper","titles":[{"title":"Cravat","type":"assigned by artist"}],"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\nElsa Schiaparelli plays with the idea of a bow in this woollen jumper. She uses the trompe-l'oeil effect, which creates an optical illusion. The designer exploits this feature and uses the design to hint at her later involvement with the surrealist movement: 'I drew a large butterfly bow in front, like a scarf round the neck - a primitive drawing of a child'. Schiaparelli wore the jumper to a society luncheon. It was a remarkable success and she received numerous orders.","physicalDescription":"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.  ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Elsa Schiaparelli","id":"A2375"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Wool","id":"AAT243430"}],"techniques":[{"text":"Knitting","id":"AAT53634"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Hand-knitted woollen","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Clothing","id":"THES48975"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2006AC7426","2025PE4884","2025PE4885","2025PE4883","2020MU3095","2006BF0366","2006AU6023"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"SAINS","id":"THES276095"},"free":"","case":"FIG003","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Jumper","id":""}],[{"text":"Sweater","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"France","id":"x28849"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1927","earliest":"1927-01-01","latest":"1927-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by the designer","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Circumference","value":"68","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"at bust","note":"Bust"},{"dimension":"Length","value":"472","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"0.3","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Circumference","value":"555","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"waist"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Jumper of hand knitted wool, 'Cravat', designed by Schiaparelli, France, 1927.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"<i>Fashion : An Anthology by Cecil Beaton</i>. London : H.M.S.O., 1971","id":"AUTH354373"},"details":"no. 219","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"<i><b>Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art</b></i><b> (March - November 2026)\n</b>\nZig-zags and bow-knots\r\n\r\n‘I wore it at a smart lunch and created  a furore… soon the restaurant of the Paris Ritz was filled with women from all over the world in black and white sweaters.’\r\n– Elsa Schiaparell in her autobiography Shocking Life.\r\n\r\nIt started with a sweater. Schiaparelli’s first solo collection, designed in January 1927, featured geometric patterned, black and white knitwear. A turning point came a few months later \r\nwhen she commissioned an Armenian maker, Aroosiag Mikaëlian, to knit a sweater with a jaunty bow knot motif. Part of Schiaparelli’s November 1927 collection, the sweater became an instant and much copied hit. The press remarked on its amusing trompe l’oeil pattern and the complex two-tone knitting technique which gave a tweed-like appearance.\n\nBlack sweater with white bow-knot\r\nElsa Schiaparelli\r\nDesigned 1927; made 1971\r\nParis\r\nWool\r\nV&amp;A: T.388-1974\r\nGiven by Elsa Schiaparelli\n\nBlack and white sweater with geometric pattern\r\nElsa Schiaparelli\r\n1927\r\nParis\r\nWool\r\nLoan Courtesy of Western Reserve Historical\r\nSociety, Cleveland, Ohio: 86.64.293\n\nBlack sweater with red bow-knot\r\nElsa Schiaparelli\r\n1927\r\nParis\r\nWool\r\nPhiladelphia Museum of Art: 1952-9-1\r\nGift of Vera White","date":{"text":"2026","earliest":"2026-01-01","latest":"2026-12-31"}},{"text":"'CRAVAT' JUMPER\r\nHand knitted wool\r\nFrench: Elsa Schiaparelli, 1927.\r\n\r\nIn the 1920s sweaters and jersies, previously worn for work or sport, became fashionable for informal daytime wear.\r\nThis 'trompe l'oeil' design jumper started Schiaparelli's career.\r\n\"So I drew a large butterfly bow in front, like a scarf round the neck. These sweaters were reinforced at the back with fine woollen stitching, always in the same colour as that of the contrasting figures. The stitches showed through discreetly, breaking the monotony of the background so that it gave an effect reminscent of the impressionist school of painting\" (Elsa Schiaparelli, <I>Shocking Life</i>, J.M. Dent & Sons, 1954, p.47 and p.49)\r\nOther, more outrageous sweater designs by Schiaparelli included tattoos and a skeleton. Like the cravat jumper, they were made by Armenian knitters living in Paris.\r\n\r\nGiven by Madame Elsa Schiaparelli\r\nThe Cecil Beaton Collection\r\nT.388-1974\r\nThe skirt is a replica","date":{"text":"1985","earliest":"1985-01-01","latest":"1985-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["T.388-1974"],"accessionNumberNum":"388","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":1974,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-08-04","recordCreationDate":"1999-12-15","availableToBook":false}}