Fashion’s house of surrealism

The exhibition Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art that we went to see yesterday at the V&A museum was - as ever, with the expert curation they have always employed - a superb, comprehensive, and utterly dazzling display of the creative talents of Madame Elsa Schiaparelli, the couture empire she founded, and its legacy today [the fashion house was revived in 2013 after almost 60 years, with Christian Lacroix as then creative director].

Myriad original Schiaparelli designs on show, from the "formal" to the frivolous, were a feast for the senses [click any photo to enlarge, or right-click and "open in new tab" for even greater detail]:

Her playfulness extended to the minutest details - trims, patterns, and in particular the buttons (a whole room of which were also there to view in all their spectacular glory):

Speaking of accessories...

Inevitably, amongst all the beautiful gowns on offer, it's the rare survivors from her famed Surrealist collaborations - with the likes of Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau - that are the stars of the show:

The output of the relaunched House of Schiaparelli was no less impressive, of course - pieces have featured everywhere from catwalks to red carpets to the Met Gala - and whole galleries of those were there, too:

However, if I really have to make a choice among my favourites of the whole collection, they would have to be these...

A splendid way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

If you can, book tickets today! Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art runs until 8th November 2026.

The Master of Couture

One of the last of the 20th century's great couturiers, Valentino has despatched his last runway collection and departed to add his signature elegance and panache to the halls of Fabulon.

Probably most remembered for his "Valentino Red" dresses, he nonethless designed frocks in myriad shades and styles - but always, always the height of sophistication. Needless to say, many of the world's most stylish women were his clients, including Princess Grace (Kelly), Vicomtesse Jacqueline de Ribes [who only recently departed at the very end of 2025 - read my tribute to her from 2011 here], Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Margaret, Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, the Begum Aga Khan, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Anjelica Huston, Sharon Stone, Joan Collins and Princess Diana.

Indeed, he designed "that frock" worn by Antia Ekberg in La Dolce Vita, the wedding dress Jackie Kennedy wore to marry Aristotle Onassis in 1968, as well as Julia Roberts' 2001 Oscars frock.

Another great loss. There are fewer and fewer designers with a true sense of style around these days...

RIP, Valentino Garavani (11th May 1932 – 19th January 2026)

I dared

"Style doesn't have seasons."

"You have to want to dare being a model. You have to dare or you don't go that step further. You have to be willing to stretch - and to not only be willing to stretch, but to want to stretch."

"A lot of women say to me, 'Polly, why aren't there more clothes out there that we can wear?' And I don't agree with them! There are clothes out there that they can wear - it's just that they don't dare to wear them."

"I personally do not think that I have ever done, in my working life, anything vulgar. I know I've done provocative things."

"I like to take things further. Too often, stylists do things to please because they are going to be accepted. You lose the magic that way. You can’t give something special to your readers unless you dare. I was a stronger woman behind the camera than I was in real life. I dared."

And so, farewell, the remarkable stylist and fashion editor Polly Mellen, who has departed to zhoosh-up the glittering catwalks of Fabulon at the venerable age of 100.

Unsurprisingly, during her long career in the fashion world she knew everyone who was everyone - growing up in Connecticut, she was acquainted with the young Katherine Hepburn; a friend-of-a-friend Sally Kirkland (future editor of Vogue) recommended her to Diana Vreeland, who gave Miss Mellon her big break at Harpers Bizarre, and then Vogue; she worked with photographers Helmut Newton and Irving Penn, and her collaborations with Richard Avedon became iconic; she worked with just about every couturier from Cristóbal Balenciaga to Halston to Alistair McQueen, Calvin Klein, Isaac Mizrahi, Vera Wang and Viktor & Rolf, and nurtured the careers of a host of supermodels that included Penelope Tree, Patti Hansen, Lauren Hutton, Nastassja Kinski, Janice Dickinson, Kate Moss, Linda Evangelista, and dozens more.

A most influential fashionista, indeed!

RIP, Polly Allen Mellen (18th June 1924 – 12th December 2024)

Aa-aa-Armani

Officially the most successful Italian designer ever (his fortune is estimated at five billion pounds!), Signor Giorgio Armani celebrates his 90th birthday today.

As famous for underpants, watches and accessories as for his sharp suits, his has been the style of choice for generations of stars of music, sport and the silver screen, politicians, dignitaries and even the Milanese police force.

Facts about Signor Armani:

• He was born in the northern Italian town of Piacenza, of Armenian and Italian descent.
• After military service as a young man, he became a window dresser at La Rinascente department store in Milan.
• Having worked on a freelance basis for myriad designers including Zegna, Cerruti and Loewe, the first pieces he designed under his own name were a series of leather bomber jackets in 1970.
• While building his fashion empire, he also designed costumes for more than one hundred films including American Gigolo and The Untouchables.
• When in 1975 he brought out a womenswear line using men's fabrics, he set the wheels in motion for the "power dressing" look that became synonymous with the 80s.
• Among his many commissions, he designed the costume worn by Spanish bullfighter Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez, the suits for the England football team (twice), and the cover of a book of gospels for the Pope.

So world-famous is Giorgio Armani, he's name-checked in loads of songs, from rap to pop to musical theatre. Not least, this one (a further tribute to another celebrant of a milestone birthday this week, Mr Neil Tennant):

Pet Shop Boys - Paninaro

Giorgio Armani (born 11th July 1934)

It's a Look

Paris Couture Week 2022 was a "happening". Again.

[from top left: Alexis Mabille, Filippo Fior, Gaultier, Iris Van Herpen, Julien Fournié, Schiaparelli, Yuima Nakazato, Gaultier again - click any pic to enlarge]