One of the first collaborations between a fashion designer and an artist was born from the friendship between Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dali.

Schiaparelli and Dali soon began their collaboration after meeting at the premiere of the famous scandalous film Le Chien andalou (“An Andalusian Dog”).

Both had an eccentric character, an unconventional outlook and a love of experimentation. From the artist's sketches, Elsa created a series of surreal models, the most impressive of which are:

/"The hat-shoe/".

This strange accessory appeared after Dali showed Elsa a photo of his wife Gala, in which he depicted her with a shoe on her head. To create these hats, Elsa based herself on real shoes. They now only exist in three copies and are kept in museums.

/"The Lobster Dress/".

This is probably the most famous dress! It was created for Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor. The exquisite milk organza dress featured a lobster motif along the entire length of the skirt.

/"Dress of Tears/"

Elsa's dress is inspired by Dali's “Necrophile Spring”. The outfit, otherwise known as the "tattered" dress, consisted of a dress and a light veil. The print on the delicate silk of the dress shockingly imitated peeled skin, and the veil was covered in purple tears.

/"Skeleton dress/"

It was based on the artist's sketches depicting the anatomy of female figures. This dark black crepe evening dress is based on the artist's sketches of vertebrae and bones. The /"Skeleton/" dress, just like the /"Tears/" dress created in 1938, reflected the spirit of the times and the state of mind that reigned among people who sensed the approach of war…

Friends, which model did you like the most? Share it in the comments!

Author of the column: Julia Kuznetsova

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