Shocking

On 10 May the Met Institute of Costume will launch the exhibition Schiaparelli –Prada. Two great fashion creators of different epochs.Italian born Schiaparelli opened her couture house in the 1930^th in Paris and soon she dazzled the world with her flamboyant style. Her innovations inspired many creators, one of them being the use of mix-and-match separates so often seen today.

I always dreamt to have a Schiaparelli creation and at one time I almost bought an astrakhan coat on Ebay. The most I would like to have, however is her perfume Shocking, said to be the first “sexual perfume”.

Kept on a bottle modeled after the voluptuous curves of actress Mae West,  wrapped in shocking pink by Leonor Fini and exhaling musk and lily of the Valley, the perfume  was an olfactory embodiment  of the mystique of Surrealism. 

Her grand-daughter, actress and model Marisa Berenson was a fashion icon in the '60s and '70s.

Sources :wikipedia

http://elogedelart.canalblog.com/archives/2009/07/02/14271380.html

http://graindemusc.blogspot.ca/

http://lisawallerrogers.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/elsa-schiaparelli-shocking-and-pink/

http://luxurystylemagazine.com/2012/05/07/renaissance-de-la-maison-de-couture-schiaparelli/

http://italophiles.com/schiaparelli.htm

http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f95/marisa-berenson-76720.html