Elsa Schiaparelli
#157,535 Most Popular
About
Remembered as a prominent clothing and jewelry designer and perfume maker of the early 20th-century inter-war period, this Italian-born creator of the 'lobster dress' and the 'tears dress' collaborated with such surrealist artists as Alberto Giacometti and Salvador Dali.
Before Fame
Early in her career, she co-designed an embroidered evening jacket with the prominent novelist and filmmaker Jean Cocteau.
Trivia
She was a major rival of fellow fashion designer Coco Chanel.
Family Life
Her marriage to William de Wendt de Kerlor, a French-Swiss Count and philosopher, resulted in a daughter named Maria Luisa Yvonne Radha de Wendt de Kerlor (also known as Gogo Schiaparelli).
Associated With
She designed the costumes that American film star Mae West wore in the 1937 picture Every Day's a Holiday.
