The Lobster dress, the Shoe hat and the designers who still dream in surrealism.
By Shreya S · Last reviewed 2 November 2026
What is surrealism in fashion?
Surrealism, the 1920s–30s art movement led by André Breton and Salvador Dalí, explored dreams and the unconscious. In fashion it means clothes that play with the unexpected: objects out of place, body parts as decoration and visual jokes.
What did Schiaparelli and Dalí make together?
- The Lobster dress (1937): a white silk evening dress printed with a large lobster, famously worn by Wallis Simpson
- The Shoe hat (1937–38): a hat shaped like an upturned high heel
- The Tears dress (1938): printed to look like torn flesh
- The Skeleton dress (1938): with padded “bones”
Read on Ayerhs: Schiaparelli in the Library
Who carries on surrealism in fashion today?
Daniel Roseberry at Schiaparelli, with gilded body parts and sculpted animal heads; Jeremy Scott at Moschino, with his pop-art jokes; Jonathan Anderson at Loewe; and Glenn Martens at Maison Margiela, whose Spring 2026 Ayerhs described as bold surrealism.
Read on Ayerhs: Schiaparelli Turns Surrealism Into Something You Can Wear · Carnivorous Chic: Schiaparelli Couture Spring 2023 · Moschino · Maison Margiela