Schiaparelli at the V&A: The UK's First Show Opens 28 March
The most anticipated fashion exhibition of the year opens on Saturday 28 March at the V&A South Kensington. Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art is the first exhibition in the UK devoted to Elsa Schiaparelli, the Italian-born designer who turned Paris couture into a playground for Surrealism in the 1930s. It fills the museum's Sainsbury Gallery and traces the house from the 1920s to the present day, including its revival under creative director Daniel Roseberry.
Fashion as art, literally
Schiaparelli's great gift was collaboration. She worked closely with the artists of her day, and the exhibition puts those partnerships centre stage. Highlights listed by the museum include an evening coat made with Jean Cocteau in 1937, and three landmark pieces from 1938 made with Salvador Dalí: the Tears dress with its veil, the Skeleton Dress and the artist's Lobster Telephone, one of the defining objects of Surrealism. Expect wit as much as glamour; these are garments that made jokes and still land them.
Jewels, photographs and the Pagan collection
The show does not stop at dresses. A choker from the autumn 1938 Pagan collection shows how far Schiaparelli pushed ornament, and portraits by Man Ray from 1933 and Cecil Beaton from 1936 capture the designer and her circle at the height of their influence. Together they explain why her name still carries such weight with collectors and fashion historians.
Into the present
The final rooms bring the story up to date. Roseberry's reinvention of the house has made Schiaparelli one of the most recognisable names on the red carpet again, and the exhibition includes contemporary haute couture from autumn/winter 2024. Seeing the archive and the new work side by side is the point: the gilded anatomy and trompe l'oeil details that feel so current are rooted in ideas nearly a century old.
The exhibition is created in collaboration with the house of Schiaparelli, with further support from Revolut.
Tickets and timing
- Tickets are priced at £28 on weekdays and £30 at weekends; book timed entry through the V&A's exhibition page.
- The V&A's major fashion exhibitions attract heavy demand, so book early rather than hoping for tickets on the door.
- V&A Members get unlimited visits to exhibitions, which can be worth it if you plan to return.
- Weekday mornings are usually the calmest time to see the garments up close.
Make a day of it
The rest of the V&A is free to enter, and the Fashion gallery is a natural companion to the show. The museum's café, in its historic refreshment rooms, is a fine place to recover. Afterwards, Brompton Road and the boutiques of Brompton Cross are a short walk east.
Getting there
South Kensington station is a five-minute walk via the pedestrian tunnel, and the Exhibition Road entrance leads directly down to the Sainsbury Gallery. For more on what is happening across SW7 this spring, see our guide to things to do.
