Schiaparelli: Inside the world of the ‘ugly’ designer who rivalled Chanel

Rivals? Coco Chanel (left) was reported to have steered Schiaparelli into a lit chandelier - (Getty)

How much would you have to loathe someone to (allegedly) steer them into a candlelit chandelier? According to 1940s Vogue editor Bettina Ballard, Coco Chanel did just that to her main rival, Elsa Schiaparelli, at a costume ball ahead of the Second World War. Dressed as a surrealist tree, Schiaparelli reportedly went up in flames, with guests squirting soda water on her to put out the blaze.

It’s fair to say that Schiaparelli – now set to be the subject of a new V&A exhibition, “Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art”, which opens on 28 March – rubbed Chanel up the wrong way to rather epic proportions. The pair were known to exchange insults, with the barely 5ft designer dubbing Chanel “that dreary little bourgeoisie”, while the French fashion superstar referred to Schiaparelli not as a designer but “that Italian artist who makes clothes”.