About Elsa Schiaparelli
Elsa Luisa Giovanna Maria Schiaparelli ( SKAP-ə-REL-ee, SHAP-, US also skee-AHP-, Italian: [ˈɛlsa skjapaˈrɛlli]; 10 September 1890 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian fashion designer from an aristocratic background. She created Maison Schiaparelli (the House of Schiaparelli) in Paris in 1927, which she managed from the 1930s to the 1950s. Starting with knitwear, Schiaparelli's designs celebrated Surrealism and eccentric fashions. Her collections were famous for unconventional and artistic themes like the human body, insects, or trompe-l'œil, and for the use of bright colors like her "shocking pink". Schiaparelli famously collaborated with Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau. Along with Coco Chanel, her greatest rival, she is regarded as one of the most prominent European figures in fashion between the two World Wars. Her clients included the heiress Daisy Fellowes and actress Mae West. She created the house of Schiaparelli in Paris in 1927, which she managed from the 1930s to the 1950s. A cousin of the brothers, Ernesto Schiaparelli, was a noted Egyptologist who discovered the tomb of Nefertari and was Director of the Museo Egizio in Turin.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.