The V&A’s Fashion Becomes Art exhibtion has managed to draw crowds of fashion lovers and non fashion lovers alike.
The exhibition, which opened last month and runs until the 8 November, is the result of an extensive period of collaboration between the team at the V&A and Schiaperelli.
The house of Schiaperelli was initially closed down by founder Elsa Schiaperelli in 1954, but was acquired by luxury Italian company Tod’s Group in 2006 and reasserted its legacy, returning to the Paris Couture calendar eight years later.
Sonnet Stanfill, the V&A’s senior curator for fashion, had the idea for the exhibition almost seven years ago, and it was something the museum fully embraced.
Lydia Caston, the exhibition project curator at the V&A said: “It made sense to do a Schiaparelli exhibition.
“It’s very different to our other fashion shows, which haven’t included art so much. As this is really as much an art show as it is a fashion show.”
In the intervening seven years, Schiaparelli’s creative director Daniel Roseberry has made the house a fixture on every social media page since taking the role in 2019.
From dressing Bad Bunny for his Super Bowl half-time show performance, to Beyonce for her Cowboy Carter tour, Roseberry has continued Schiaperelli’s legacy of weaving fashion and art to create something which inspires awe.
The exhibition contains some of the house’s most radical and iconic garments, from famous pieces such as the 1938 Tears dress to a hat resembling an upside down shoe.
Roseberry has turned couture into spectacle the wider public can enjoy and can consume, which has translated into the exhibition being regularly sold out.
At the time of publication, tickets for the exhibition were sold out for the next eight weeks.
One of the lucky few who managed to get a ticket to see the exhibit said: “Everything feels very intentional.
“The dresses are beautifully modest and yet so expressive. Seeing Bella Hadid’s iconic look with the long shaped necklace was incredible.”
When asked how Roseberry and the house have managed to capture attention in an ever changing attention economy.
Caston pointed to how Roseberry’s direction manages to be in conversation with contemporary fashion and art in the same way Elsa Schiaperelli did in the 1950s.
In the most recent couture collection, the Isabella blowfish look draws a visual connection between Roseberry’s work and those of British designer Alexander McQueen, whom he admired.
Caston added: “There’s been a revival of being more adventurous, there’s less restraint and really pushing the boundaries in terms of textiles and silhouettes and story telling.
“That’s something he’s brought to the fore.”
Photo credit: Courtesy of the V&A
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