Elsa Schiaparelli was an Italian who began her career as a designer in 1930s Paris. While
Coco Chanel and Madeline Vionnet designed easy, soft clothes, Elsa Schiaparelli designed
unusual, almost shocking garments.
She invented shocking pink and introduced mad prints, buttons and accessories. She
was the designer for hard chic, those who want to be shocking. Elsa introduced the
upturned shoe hat which became very famous.
Elsa Schiaparelli was the first one to do the boutique look in a store when she started
selling her sweaters and accessories in the corner of the her salon. This idea was copied after
World War II, and the boutique was born.
World War II marked the end of her business. She retired and never returned to fashion. She died in
1973 at the age of 83.
