The House of Schiaparelli was the new name during Paris couture fashion week 2014. In 1926, Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) opened her business at 21 Place Vendôme and closed again on 13 December 1954. In 2007, Diego Della Valle, president and owner of the Italian leather goods company Tod’s, acquired the rights to Schiaparelli’s name and archives. The re-inauguration of her label is thus not a matter of continuation but rather an awakening of her legacy after a nearly 60-year long sleep. Schiaparelli is remembered for making fashion history between the two World Wars and for her intriguing collaborations with surrealist artists like Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau. She introduced the idea of themed collections, staged runway shows as entertainment, and used bizarre aspects of adornment like “fantasy” buttons and exotic furs, such as monkey. Despite their unmistakable avant-garde character, her designs never became mere caricatures or translations of avant-garde art into clothing, but remained both sellable and wearable. The new House builds upon the significance of Schiaparelli’s life history and legacy. Creative director Marco Zanini was appointed to design the first couture collection for the House since 1954. In his nineteen looks, the designer clearly looked at the archives and played with the Schiaparelli codes: vivid and graphic prints showed her sense of colour, and silhouettes were elaborately embroidered. The more obvious references to Schiaparelli’s iconic thirties designs – like lobsters and shoe hats – were absent. The show took its audience’s imagination on a journey through different times, places, and emotions. The new Schiaparelli woman had a variety of different faces, tempers and characters. As a whole, the show was an eclectic collage of memories from the past and the present. Zanini’s ambiguous tale triggered curiosity for the next chapter of Schiaparelli’s story in our era.