Style File - Elsa Schiaparelli

ELSA SCHIAPARELLI was one of the most innovative couturiers of the 20th Century. SEE HER LIFE IN PICTURES Born in Rome in 1890, she had an eventful early adulthood involved writing a book of sensual poetry, a stint in a convent, and an affair with one of her university tutors. An autodidact in fashion design, she began her business in Paris in 1927 with the encouragement of her friend Paul Poiret. She became best known for her collaborations with surrealist artist Salvador Dali, and the inventive and original creations they produced - including the Shoe hat and the Lobster dress. LOOK BACK AT HER LIFE IN PICTURES Schiaparelli closed her design house in 1954, after struggling to compete with the popularity of Dior's post-war New Look, but has remained a prominent and influential figure within the fashion world. In May 2012, her work will be celebrated alongside that of Miuccia Prada in an exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and Design entitled Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada: Impossible Conversations. YOU SHOULD SEE: The biography of Elsa Schiaparelli...