Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations

                        

 Wallis Simpson in Elsa Sciaparelli, Vogue, June 1, 1937

Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photograph by Cecil Beaton

Cecil Beaton Studio Archive at Sotheby's

Summer in New York... 

Sun-splashed strolls along the Hudson River. Sundresses and sandals spotted at street fairs.


Days spent sunning in Central Park accompanied by a jaunt to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And, StyleSetters, if you share our love for fashion + art, you will want to check out the Met's current exhibit, entitled Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations.

                   

  

George Hoyningen-Huene (Russian, 1900-1968)

Portrait of Elsa Schiaparelli, 1932

Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Hoyningen-Huene/Vogue (c) Conde Nast

                    

Guido Harari (Italian, born Cairo 1952)

Portrait of Miuccia Prada, 1999

Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guido Harari/Contrasto/Redux

Designs by the two iconic Italian designers are on display throughout several galleries, culminating with "The Surreal Body." Given Schiaparelli's friendships with Dali and Cocteau, this gallery is particularly intriguing and ranks as our favorite. [Admittedly, another reason for our adoration of Schiaparelli is the unabashed use of shocking pink in her designs.] In a wink to the surreal and to the two designers, Anna Wintour wore a Prada-designed version of Schiaparelli's famous lobster dress originally designed in collaboration with Dali to the Met Gala this past Monday.

The exhibit also features video directed by Baz Luhrmann, conjuring up impossible conversations between the two women.  

Check it out through August 19, 2012! 

Website for the exhibition: http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2012/impossible-conversations/introduction