Fragrance house

Elsa Schiaparelli

Elsa Schiaparelli established her own fashion company in Paris in 1927, introducing hand-knitted sweaters with geometric and trompe-l’œil designs; the success of her bow-knot sweater helped launch the House. From the outset, its identity developed through the meeting of fashion, art and Surrealism, with collaborations involving Salvador Dalí, Jean Cocteau, Man Ray, Alberto Giacometti and Marcel Vertès. In 1934, Schiaparelli became the first female fashion designer featured on the cover of Time, and in 1935 she moved her couture salon to 21 Place Vendôme, where Jean-Michel Frank designed the interiors with Giacometti. The couture House closed in 1954, while its perfume business continued. Diego Della Valle purchased Schiaparelli in 2007; following the acquisition of the name rights and archives during 2006–2012, the couture Maison reopened at 21 Place Vendôme in 2012. Schiaparelli was officially granted haute couture status in 2017. Daniel Roseberry was appointed artistic director in April 2019, and his work has reinterpreted the founder’s Surrealist legacy through jewelry, metalwork, upcycled denim, molded leather and unexpected fabrics. The fragrance story includes S, Schiaparelli’s first fragrance, and Shocking, launched in 1937 alongside Shocking Pink in a dressmaker’s-bust bottle designed and packaged with Leonor Fini; it became a bestseller for nearly three decades.