Wednesday Name Brand Pronunciation: Elsa Schiaparelli

Elsa Schiaparelli
Pronunciation: el-suh sha-pah-relli
That girl, she’s scandalous.
Parisian designer Elsa Schiaparelli was a true original. Though her couture house closed down after World War II, the mark she made on the fashion world remains. Her avant-garde approach to fashion opened eyes and minds in her 1920s and ’30s heyday, leading Coco Chanel to jealously write her off as “that Italian artist who is making clothes” while Schiaparelli saw her designs worn by legends like Mae West and Zsa Zsa Gabor. From her creation of the shade known as “shocking pink” (we call it hot pink in America) to her saucily-designed perfume bottle, Miss Schiaparelli left a mark on fashion that’s been echoed by everyone from neon-loving ravers and hipsters to Jean-Paul Gaultier.
Ready to get inspired? Hunt down her old designs on eBay, or pick up a copy of her biography Shocking Life for a glimpse into what it was like to be the surrealist darling of fashion.