What is known about the Lady Gaga brooch at the inauguration of the President of the United States, or the story of the Schiaparelli brand that rose from the ashes

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In 2021, during the inauguration of President Joe Biden, a massive brooch that adorns Lady Gaga's dress caught everyone's attention. This creation of the revived fashion house Schiaparelli was considered by some as the hope for world peace, while others called it a symbol of revolution. Be that as it may, the Schiaparelli house was famous for its decorations before - when it was headed by the great Schiap herself …

Elsa Schiaparelli knew how to shock the public. With her light hand, zippers, sweaters with knitted plots, bright pink color, newspaper prints, a separate swimsuit, a skirt-trousers came into fashion … And what about gloves with artificial nails or a veil with strands of mermaid hair embroidered on it! “She knows how to go too far,” Jean Cocteau said about her. Unsurprisingly, Elsa Schiaparelli literally hated Chanel - too audacious, too bold, too … tasteless. But the jewelry created by the designer independently and in collaboration with famous contemporaries deserves special attention. Schiap said an emphatic no to noble materials and notions of good taste. Why not wear a huge lobster brooch made of glass, plastic and enamel in broad daylight?

Brooches were generally the designer's favorite adornment. The placers of precious stones in her works were replaced by inexpensive crystals - and this allowed to increase the scale and expand the palette of jewelry. Thus, it is Skiap, and not Chanel, that should be considered the ancestor and main propagandist of the trend for artificial materials. Her bold decisions changed the jewelry design in many ways and showed the way for many experimental jewelers.

Elsa Schiaparelli herself is considered a surrealist artist. She was warm friends with Salvador Dali, collaborated with Jean Cocteau. Dali's first jewelry experience took place in a creative alliance with Schiaparelli - they came up with earrings-phones and jewelry with lobsters. Cocteau drew all-seeing eye earrings for Schiap, which have become one of the brand's most recognizable jewelry.

Based on the sketches of the surrealist artist Christian Berar, Schiaparelli designed a necklace made of transparent plastic rhodoid with insect figurines attached to it - a similar bag followed. This eerie piece of jewelry was later included in the "pagan" collection of Schiaparelli, inspired by the work of Sandro Botticelli.

It also includes several necklaces in the shape of ivy, "entwining" the owners' necks. In collaboration with Jean Clement, she created decorative buttons - bullets, ballerinas, acrobats … Their figures sometimes seemed to fold by themselves into the inscription "carefully, painted" - is it not a reminder of the case when Chanel insidiously offered her opponent a painted chair, and then sarcastically that the spots of paint only adorned the already bright outfit of Schiap.

The same images of acrobats and clowns appeared in brooches from the “circus” jewelry collection. Schiaparelli boldly replaced items of clothing with similarly shaped ornaments - for example, jewelry collars. Now this technique is used by many fashion brands. She widely used materials of her favorite color - "shocking pink".

In the late 2000s, the fashion industry saw a turn towards forgotten brands of the past. The Schiaparelli House was closed after the Second World War, but in 2007 it was revived by the Italian businessman Diego Della Valle. The next six years did not bring any rebirth to Elsa's legacy, until the first creative director of the renewed brand, Marco Zanini, was appointed in September 2013. Subsequently, the fashion house went through several more personnel changes. Now at the helm is Texas-born Daniel Roseberry. It was under Roseberry that Schiaparelli returned to its origins - surrealism, experimentation, creative madness.

Since 2019, the brand has been presenting, along with clothing, fantastic jewelry inspired by the independent works of the great Schiap and her collaborations with surrealist artists. Schiaparelli's modern jewelery is again shockingly anatomical - perfectly in line with the growing interest in human corporeality.

Ornaments in the form of eyes, nails and teeth are not where these organs should be - an azure eye looks curiously from the earlobe, gold teeth with pearls "stuck" in them dangle like pendants … Artificial nails created by nail art artist Marian Newman dotted with hats. Intricately designed jewelry made of gold and pearls in the form of flowers seems to "grow" into the hands of models. Hairstyles and makeup of models match the decorations at the shows. Schiaparelli brought back to fashion brooches - pierced hearts, the initials of the founder of the house, huge eyes inspired by Cocteau's creation, keyholes and folded palms are decorated with large artificial crystals, as Schiap bequeathed.

In 2021, at the inauguration of the 46th US President Joe Biden, the shocking singer Lady Gaga appeared in a luxurious dress from Schiaparelli (the press joked that the performer eclipsed everyone, including the main "culprit" of the occasion). On her chest, spread its wings wide with a golden dove carrying an olive branch in its beak - a brooch of the same brand. The scale and power of the image are reminiscent of the original works of Elsa Schiaparelli, the very shape of the dove is inspired by the famous drawing by Pablo Picasso, the manufacturing technique evokes associations with archaic art … And the younger generation compares this brooch with the mockingjay - the emblem of the revolutionary Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of a series of books and films " The Hunger Games".

And despite Roseberry's assurances that the jewelry has no political overtones, the "dove of peace" Schiaparelli seems destined to become the main symbol of these turbulent years. "Fashion is born of changes, directions or even politics, it is never created by new bling, pleating, lining with fur or skirt length", - said the great Schiap. And the new creations of the fashion house Schiaparelli, proudly rising from the ashes, confirm these words.