Summer evening dress, white organdie, trimmed with purple velvet and satin, Schiaparelli, Paris, 1936.

Summer evening dress of bias-cut white organdie over a matching slip, with a wide sash of purple satin.

The silhouette of the skirt, which suggests an opening parachute or flower, is similar to that of a black and white rippled-satin mid-calf length dinner dress in the collection (T.391-1974). The dinner dress is a documented and published design from the Parachute Collection of summer 1936 (ref. Paris Centre de Documentation de Costume, Schiaparelli, Album no 11, 1936, p.79; design also reproduced on page 92 of Dilys Blum's book 'Shocking! The art and fashion of Elsa Schiaparelli').

The "Stratospheric" and "Aeroplane" silhouettes of the Parachute collection for summer 1936 (which was presented February 1936) were inspired by parachutes and aerodynamics. On a visit to Moscow, Schiaparelli had been fascinated by the sight of Russian citizens parachuting from a specially set up tower. As a child, she had jumped out of a window using an umbrella as a parachute, so this was also reflected in her designs for this collection. Another influence was Leonardo's parachute drawings.

- Daniel Milford-Cottam, 2011

T.42:1 to 3-2010