Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) was one of the world's leading fashion
designers and innovators from the 1920s through the 1950s. Through
those years she and her arch-rival, Coco Chanel, defined the development
of their industry. Schiaparelli was the more daring and bold,
juxtaposing her startling colors, shapes, and materials in wonderfully
inventive ways. She began her design career in Paris, expanding to
London and New York. She moved to New York in 1940, then returned to
France after World War II. In the mid 1950s she discontinued all of her
enterprises except for licensing agreements, allowing the use of her
name on accessories for several more years. The earliest Schiaparelli
jewelery is unmarked or marked with lower case block letters. Post war
pieces are marked Schiaparelli in script.
