COCO CHANEL VS. ELSA SCHIAPARELLI
Each season during Milan Fashion Week, well-known and emerging designers flock to the northern Italian city to present their craft to the rest of the world. But Milan wasn't always the respected fashion capital it is today. Around the second half of the 20th century, Moda Italiana, or Italian fashion, finally became recognized for its attention-to-detail and innovative design. Before that, Paris was the main city for all things fashion, with Italian design largely going unnoticed. Even Elsa Schiaparelli—perhaps one of the most influential Italian designers of the early 20th century—chose to stage her atelier in Paris, spawning a feud with French designer Coco Chanel (who, not being able to bring herself to say Schiaparelli's name, referred to her as "the Italian artist who makes clothes"). Schiaparelli, known for her signature color of "shocking pink," made notable contributions to fashion, specifically in regards to the construction of couture garments. (S...
