Schiaparelli and Chanel’s Feud Immortalized in New Exhibition
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
LONDON — Sculptor Robyn Neild has immortalized Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli’s feud in her latest exhibition held at the Gray M.C.A gallery, casting 40 of the designers’ seminal looks in bronze.
Titled “The Italian and The Milliner,” Chanel and Schiaparelli’s respective derisive nicknames for each other, the exhibition explores how each designer liberated women’s fashion.
More from WWD
On until Sunday, the retrospective chronicles the respective houses’ design evolutions, from 1926 to present, in a series of bronze sculptures.
“Chanel’s commitment to fluid lines, often generously embellished, showcases the brand’s commitment to craftsmanship. On the garment different techniques would be used to disguise certain parts of the figure and enhance other areas and I want to try and capture some of these fine textural qualities in my bronze castings,” said Neild.
“Schiaparelli’s dramatic vision uses the body as a motif to create exaggerated silhouettes featuring sculptural and architectural elements, making use of trompe-l’oeil and giving garments unconventional twists that provide an exciting provocation to my sculptural work,” she added.
Ashley Gray, director of the Gray M.C.A and the exhibition’s curator, described the intricate process, otherwise known as the lost wax technique, as a delicate one.
“Once perfected, the figure is encased in plaster and placed in a furnace to burn away the wax creation, leaving a hollow silhouette into which molten bronze fills every fine niche,” he said.
Neild, who received a degree in fashion design from London’s Middlesex University and began her career as a fashion illustrator for magazines including Vogue and Glamour, was able to draw on her background to create the pieces.
Best of WWD
