"Conversation" Between Schiaparelli and Prada

It can be noticed that many works of Prada recall the works of Schiaparelli to a great deal. Schiaparelli used the image of lip on her cloth design for 1937 collection as in Image 14, and this has a reference to Dalí’s ‘The Mae West Lips Sofa’ (1937).

According to Vickers (2017), “Schiaparelli explored the Surrealist idea of the fragmented body and drew on one of its most provocative images, a woman’s lips”. In the collection, Schiaparelli created suits with embroidered pockets in the shape of lips which ‘resonated with sexual symbolism’ (Vickers,2017), and this was undoubtedly inspired by Dalí’s sensational art and design which was created in the same year.

Similarly, Prada’s collection in 2012, she used image of lips on her clothing design, and it seems to indicate that her work plays with the surrealist concept with direct references to both Dalí and Schiaparelli. Despite of clear parallels between Schiaparelli and Prada, considering visual elements as well as symbolic meanings as well, Prada keeps her works to be distanced from the works of Schiaparelli.

There was an exhibition held at Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2012, titled as ‘An imaginary conversation between Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada’. In the videos, Prada is seated opposite the actress Judy Davis in the role of Schiaparelli, and both have constant conversation and discuss. They effectively illustrate different opinions, and one of the prominent moment was when they talk about the relationship between fashion and art. Schiaparelli said “dress designing… is to me not a profession but an art” and Prada responds “dress designing is creative but it is not an art” (Video from exhibition, 2012).

Indeed, the conversation separate their views on the matter, and shows that while Schiaparelli considers fashion as a form of art, Prada takes fashion to be rather commercial to be art. Prada widely recalls the idea of Surrealism and works of Schiaparelli the more it comes to the recent years. It is undeniable that Surrealism has played a significant role in the fashion world, beginning with great works of Schiaparelli, whose root lives in the works of Prada.