schiaparelli takes the V&A in first UK exhibition

fashion enters the realm of art at the V&A

Positioning fashion as a site of artistic production rather than adornment, Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A)’s Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art exhibition reframes Elsa Schiaparelli as a key figure who dissolved the boundary between couture and avant-garde practice, bringing her surrealist collaborations into direct dialogue with contemporary fashion under Daniel Roseberry’s creative direction.

On view until March 28th, 2026, the first exhibition in the UK devoted entirely to the house of Elsa Schiaparelli, staged at the Sainsbury Gallery, spans nearly a century of radical design, tracing the couturier’s trajectory from her experimental beginnings in 1920s Paris to the contemporary revival of the maison. Bringing together more than 400 objects, including garments, artworks, accessories, and archival material, the exhibition positions Schiaparelli as a central figure operating between fashion, art, and performance. Her oft-cited statement that dressmaking is art rather than a profession frames the curatorial approach.

At the core of the exhibition is Schiaparelli’s dialogue with the avant-garde. Collaborations with figures such as Salvador Dalí, Jean Cocteau, Man Ray, and Pablo Picasso reveal a practice grounded in surrealist experimentation and cultural exchange. Among the highlights are the 1938 Skeleton dress and the Tears dress, alongside Dalí’s iconic Lobster Telephone, presented in dialogue with the Lobster dress that inspired it.

Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art at V&A South Kensington | images courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum, London, unless stated otherwise

Elsa Schiaparelli’s legacy from paris to london and beyond

A dedicated section of the V&A exhibition explores the lesser-known London chapter of the house, foregrounding Schiaparelli’s expansion into Mayfair in the 1930s and her engagement with British clients and creatives. Garments produced for the London salon, alongside portraits and commissions, underscore her role as both designer and self-mythologizing figure operating across Paris, London, and New York.

Her work for theater and cinema further extends this reach, with costumes designed for performers such as Marlene Dietrich and Mae West reinforcing the performative dimension of her practice.

The exhibition concludes with A Golden Thread, a section dedicated to the house’s present-day evolution under Daniel Roseberry. Since 2019, Roseberry has reactivated Schiaparelli’s surrealist vocabulary through sculptural couture, worn by contemporary figures such as Ariana Grande and Dua Lipa.

The show frames Schiaparelli’s legacy as an ongoing project rather than a closed chapter, one that continues to shape contemporary visual culture through its hybrid language of fashion and art.

the exhibition positions fashion as a site of artistic production