A Note From The Founders...

"I love to shock people, to surprise them with unexpected combinations and ideas."

– Elsa Schiaparelli

Like the fashion industry, fragrances often allow us to show our individuality while contributing to our social standing and sense of self-worth.

It was in the 13th century that fragrance and fashion were linked for the first time in Grasse, France. At the time, Grasse was known as the world capital of perfumes, and it was also the home of the glove-making industry. The horrendous odor of the glove leather, which was tanned with urine, was problematic.

The local perfumers of Grasse, using the flowers of the region, came to the rescue of the tanners, and perfumed gloves became a must-have fashion accessory throughout Europe. Glove makers soon became successful perfumers, and today the area continues to produce raw materials for the perfume and food industries.

Elsa worked at an antique shop during the day and soon developed friendships with Parisian artists and designers, including Paul Poiret, sparking her interest in the fashion industry.

In 1927, she founded her company, “Schiaparelli-Pour le Sport” (Schiaparelli-Sportswear), designing collections of knitwear, swimsuits and accessories. 

She introduced four collections each year, collaborating with jewelers, artists and perfume bottle designers. For years, her relationships with artists Salvador Dali, Jean Cocteau and Alberto Giacometti, along with fashion and portrait photographer Man Ray, were legendary.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Elsa's elegant, surreal and sometimes witty fashions made a bold statement that stood out and differentiated herself from other designers. She also loved to push the boundaries of what was considered acceptable in fashion. While Perfume Passage does not own any of Elsa's iconic fashions, some of our favorites include the three below, which are now part of the collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Elsa's well-known collaboration with Surrealist artist Salvador Dali resulted in one of her most famous pieces, the Lobster Dress, in 1937. The lobster is often considered a powerful erotic symbol, and it contrasts with the pristine white fabric of the dress. The dress was considered somewhat scandalous at the time!

Elsa's famous knit Bowtie Sweater was one of the first pieces she designed and part of her initial collection in November 1927. The sweater was an instant success.

A collaboration with another Surrealist artist, Jean Cocteau, resulted in this beautiful evening coat with embroidered silhouettes of a woman's head, along with applied silk flowers.

Like her mentor and friend, Paul Poiret, Elsa also believed that the success of her fragrances should be as successful as the fashions she created, so developing the packaging and boxes for her scents was a priority. She also agreed with Poiret's thought that if someone couldn't afford her couture fashions, they would be able to indulge in a fragrance instead.

The perfumes and perfume bottles created by Schiaparelli in the 1930s and 1940s are some of the most beautiful and interesting ever created. The Schiaparelli perfume collection at Perfume Passage also includes some original prints that promoted the bottles, as well as magazine advertisements.

In 1934, the company launched its first three scents globally: Soucis, Salut and Schiap. Elsa's early perfumes were created in England by perfumer George Robert Parkinson, who also worked with other perfumeries, including Massenet and Jean-Louis Le Court Company.

A perfume factory was built in Bois-Colombes, northwest of Paris, and the company created a separate division, named Parfums Schiaparelli. They continued to produce perfumes at the factory in Bois-Colombes until 1961.

Elsa's best-known perfume was Shocking! introduced in 1937 and was contained in a bottle sculpted by Argentine artist Leonor Fini.

The bottle was shaped like a dressmaker's mannequin, with a tape measure around the neck, along with glass flowers. The shape of the bottle was inspired by the curves of actress Mae West, a Hollywood sex symbol of the time. The bottle was placed under a glass globe in reference to those in which late 19th-century brides preserved their floral wreaths.

The packaging, also designed by Fini, was in shocking pink, one of Schiaparelli's signature colors.

In 1939, Elsa released her scent, Snuff. While she never worked with Belgian Surrealist artist Rene Magritte, she was inspired by his La Trahison des Images (The Treachery of Images) that he produced in 1929. The fragrance was held in a glass perfume bottle molded in the shape of a man's smoking pipe. It was sold in a package resembling a cigar or tobacco box.

The pipe perfume bottle was the epitome of surrealism; it was a pipe, yet it wasn’t a pipe. Snuff was the only fragrance she created for men, and it contained notes of lavender, bergamot, pine and jasmine.

The Treachery of Images painting is on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Below the image Magritte painted, Ceci n'est pas une pipe, French for "This is not a pipe."

The graphics on the box and label were designed for Schiaparelli by artist Fernand Guery-Colas, the designer who also created the packaging for Sleeping.

Succes Fou was launched in 1953, only in the US. The name means "raving success" or "smash hit" in French.

It was presented in a leaf-shaped bottle designed by Michel de Brunhoff, and the artist Peynet designed the advertisement. He was the same artist whose images appeared on the porcelain powder compacts by Miref. The leaf bottle could also be fitted with an atomizer top.

"Working with artists like Christian Berard, Jean Cocteau, Salvador Dali, Marcel Vertes, Van Dongen; and with photographers like Hoeningen-Huene, Horst, Cecil Beaton, and Man Ray gave one a sense of exhilaration."

It's been said that Elsa's fashions and accessory designs wouldn't have been as successful without her collaboration with several of the most avant-garde and surrealist artists of the time. Working with these influential artists and photographers allowed her to combine styles, fashion and art, forming unprecedented relationships in the fashion and art worlds.

Salvador Dali

In addition to the famous lobster dress and Le Roy Soleil perfume bottle, Dali designed a whimsical figural telephone dial-shaped compact in 1935.

The compact was part of Elsa's theme presentation called “Stop, Look and Listen,” which debuted in conjunction with her new boutique at the Place Vendome in Paris. Their telephone dial compact was so popular that a similar version was produced again in the 1950s by an unknown company.

The collectible enamel powder compact is on the wish list for Perfume Passage!Text Link

Christian Berard

Elsa's friend Christian Berard, known as "Bebe," was a well-known Parisian artist who collaborated with Elsa on fashion illustrations, prints and even a painted folding screen for the showroom of her fashion salon.

Illustration of Schiaparelli's "hard chic" silhouette, 1935.

Princess Poniatowska wearing Schiaparelli, 1937.

Illustration of the "Le Cirque" (Circus) collection, 1938.

Marcel Vertes

Hungarian/French artist Marcel Vertes (1895-1961) illustrated covers for fashion magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue. His illustrated ads for Schiaparelli perfumes and cosmetics are delicate-looking, often feature female silhouettes along with flowers. The ads below were among several Vertes designed in the 1940s.

He created two pairs of spiral glasses, one made of metal and the other in twisted shocking pink leather. These are another item on the Perfume Passage wish list!

While not exactly a collaboration, Schiaparelli fragrances were so popular that you could purchase a freezer or brassiere and receive samples of a great fragrance. Perhaps these purchases were an enticement to try a new perfume; however, was there a connection between smelling nice and kitchen appliances?

If you purchased any Playtex Living Bra at Scarbrough's department store, you received a $3.00 size of Schiaparelli's Shocking perfume. This ad appeared in the Austin, Texas, American Sun newspaper in September 1964.

A free bottle of Schiaparelli perfume was given to the first 200 ladies who spent $199.88 on a Frigidaire freezer! It sounds like quite a promotion during the grand opening of Taff & Baker's Furniture & Appliance store, according to this May 1960 advertisement in the Tipton, Indiana Daily Tribune.

The original Maison Schiaparelli closed its doors in 1954. After World War II, the public was seemingly moving past many pre-war fashions in search of something different. Elsa spent the rest of her life in Paris and Tunisia, writing her memoir. The only thing that remained of the original Maison Schiaparelli was the perfume company.

Elsa died in her sleep in 1973 at the age of 83. 

I started reading and learning all about Elsa, her fashions, perfumes and accessories, and I became infatuated. I love the Snuff linear bottle design, as when you turn it on its side, it becomes a bowtie shape.

I watched YouTube videos about Daniel Roseberry and his new designs. I think he's the reincarnation of Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dali, in one person!

When Jeffrey and I traveled to Paris in 2023, I knew we were going to visit the Schiaparelli boutique.

Of course, I added some of the new accessory items to our collection, such as the handbag, wallet and keychain charm. I can imagine that some of these surrealist designs could have been created by Elsa in the 1930s!

• For Schiaparelli's 2024 spring-summer collection, the company has designed a brass and enamel brooch in the look of the iconic 1935 telephone dial compact! Artistic director Roseberry said the pin, retailing for approximately $2,000, "embellishes the silhouette with a very Schiap touch!"

Join us for a Special Celebration!

Perfume Passage is marking a milestone - our fifth anniversary! Save the date and be part of this aromatic extravaganza.

Date: Saturday July 27, 2024

Venue: Perfume Passage



Join us for an unforgettable afternoon filled with scents, stories and surprises!

More details coming soon. Stay tuned!

There's no doubt about it; social media has become a part of everyday life for billions of people and businesses. According to an online article from Search Engine Journal, there are over 400,000 new social users every day.

Perfume Passage is no exception, and we continue to increase our presence on several social media platforms to share our collections, upcoming events, publications and all things perfume and vanity! Click on the highlighted links below to view some of our videos, stories, collections and interesting finds.

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Our mission is to preserve the history, beauty and artistry of perfume bottles, compacts, ephemera and related vanity items. Through education, outreach, and awareness of the Perfume Passage collection and library, our goal is to inspire art lovers, collectors, arts and curators to keep this history alive. 

Perfume Passage Foundation perfumepassage.org