SURREALISM IN FASHION

Surrealism was an artistic and literary movement that started in Paris in 1924, inspired by the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud.?Artists wanted to explore the unconscious mind using automatic writing and drawing.

André Breton, leader of the movement,?wrote the Surrealist Manifesto which defined Surrealism as:

pure psychic automatism, by which one proposes to express, either verbally, in writing, or by any other manner, the real functioning of thought. Dictation of thought in the absence of all control exercised by reason, outside of all aesthetic and moral preoccupation.

Some of its most famous representatives were artists like Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, René Magritte, Frida Kahlo, and Meret Oppenheim.

Due to its popularity and interesting techniques, it soon caught the attention of couturiers and fashion photographers.

The first one attracted to it was Elsa Schiaparelli.

She is known for her collaborations with Dalí, Cocteau, Man Ray, and Oppenheim, among others. With the latter, for example, she covered in fur a metal bracelet for its winter 1937 collection. Picasso even painted some hands that resembled gloves, inspired by Elsa’s design.

But her most famous collaborations were with Salvador Dalí.?Together they created the Shoe hat for her winter 1937-38 Haute Couture Collection, the “Skeleton” dress, and the “Lobster” dress worn by Wallis Simpson (which caused quite a scandal at the time).

Nowadays, Daniel Roseberry, the Creative Director of the Maison, is doing extraordinary work at keeping Elsa’s heritage and her passion for Surrealism season after season.

However, the brand founded by the Italian (as Chanel used to call her) is not the only one that includes Surrealism in their designs. Every year, we can see designers and couturiers from around the world referencing the movement.

Here are some examples:

• Martin Margiela used the frottage technique (very common among surrealist artists) on the shoes of his Spring 2003 collection.
• Maria Grazia Chiuri was inspired by Argentinian artist Leonor Fini to design Dior’s Spring 2018 collection.
• The American actor and singer Ezra Miller chose surreal makeup that included multiple sets of eyes on his face to attend the 2019 Met Gala, which was Camp-themed.
• Jonathan Anderson showed dresses and coats with car-shaped figures at the bottom for Loewe’s Fall 2022.
• That same year, VTMNTS paid homage to Magritte with cloud-printed coats, so characteristic of the Belgian painter. A design that we could also see in Louis Vuitton Men's Fall 2020 by Virgil Abloh.
• And of course, we have Moschino, a brand that we can always count on when it comes to Surrealism.