Kylie Jenner Is Wearing Surrealist Fashion. Should You?

IT’S AN ILLUSION From left: Loewe’s fall 2022 dress is adorned with faux balloons that look like they’re about to burst; this garment’s trompe l’oeil face, nipples and navel were inspired by Picasso’s ceramics. Alaïa Dress, $6,500, gagosianshop.com

Her outfit recalled the work of Italian designer Elsa Schiaparelli, who, after launching her brand with a trompe l’oeil sweater in 1927, collaborated with surrealist artists like Salvador Dalí (the melting clock guy) and Man Ray (known for painting airborne lips). In her 1934 line, a handsy jacket, cape, bag and belt featured the appendage, too.

Since becoming creative director of Schiaparelli in 2019, Daniel Roseberry has thrust the label back into view. You may have seen his outsize earrings—a curious combo of gilded fingers and teeth—on Beyoncé at the 2021 Grammys; Kim Kardashian wore his emerald gown with a molded, Hulk-ish bodice in 2020. He fuses anatomy, wit and sexual innuendo as a homage to Elsa’s original take on surrealism. He and his team, he said, “talk a lot about ‘psycho chic.’” That is, fashion that’s “a little unhinged without going over the edge.” Novices who prefer to be more hinged, he said, can start with an uncanny bag or bauble.

In surreal fashion, “humor is very important” as long as there’s something deeper—and darker—beneath the surface, said Olivier Gabet, curator of “Shocking! The Surreal World of Elsa Schiaparelli,” at Paris’s Musée des Arts Décoratifs (through Jan. 22). A shining example: a 1937 Schiaparelli dress (pictured below) that has subversive undertones thanks to a strategically placed lobster, painted by Dalí.

SURREAL DEAL From Left: Salvador Dalí and Elsa Schiaparelli co-created this 1937 Lobster Dress; Man Ray’s 1924 ‘Le Violon d’Ingres’ drew $12.4 million at Christie’s in May. PHOTO: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Christie’s Images

Fall collections from Loewe, Y/Project and more also nodded to the style philosophy. London jewelry designer Solange Azagury-Partridge’s Hotlips ring has been a surreal fan favorite since 1995, rendered in silver or gold and available coated in various hues of enamel. She called it a “visual pun.”

The early surrealists could easily have used the same term. “Everything was a double entendre,” said Darius Himes, international head of photography at Christie’s auction house. He said surrealism is “a rejection of what makes sense in order to pursue other means of finding happiness.”

Maybe not so kooky after all.

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