ELSA SCHIAPARELLI/4

Evidently it was here that Elsa Schiaparelli came into close contact with the world of contemporary fashion. In the words of Schiaparelli herself, it appears that her love affair with fashion began after she visited the atelier of Paul Poiret in Faubourg Saint-Honoré with a friend. Poiret, the Great designer of the 1920s who introduced a new representation of woman, free from constricting corsets, showed her some of his creations which she, at the time, judged too expensive. Poirot replied “Do not worry about the money. And then you will be able to how and when you please…”

 Elsa’s first creation was the fruit of intuition: she was drawn to a dress knitted by an Armenian refugee. The two women begin working in partnership: Schiaparelli has the ideas, the other carries them out. At first, the atelier was her apartment in Rue de l’Université.