A dazzling blonde dances on the silver screen.

She’s fabulous, she’s beautiful, she’s legendary. She’s Marilyn Monroe, draped in glittering diamonds and the most jaw-dropping pink dress.

She sings to the audience:

Diamonds are a girl's best friend.

As it turns out, they’re the best friend of the luxury fashion house Schiaparelli, too. When people think of this haute couture titan, many things come to mind. From the iconic lobster dress, a bedazzled doja cat, Bad Bunny looking fabulous while making Grammy’s history, and the iconic Schiaparelli Shocking Pink. 

And shock the fashion world it did! Schiaparelli now stands as the longest-standing rival to the Chanel brand. The house continues to innovate every season with avant-garde and surrealist haute couture. All while maintaining a brand that is so uniquely… well, Schiaparelli.

Who Even Is Schiaparelli, Anyway?

The fashion house was named after its founder, Elsa Schiaparelli. She was born on September 10, 1890 in Rome to an aristocratic family. The signs of Elsa being a creative force to be reckoned with started young. She wrote poetry inspired by the Greek epics and had a deep interest in philosophy. 

She later moved to Paris, where she worked for the Dada-ism magazine Société Anonyme, which provided the foundation for her surrealist approach to fashion. Here she also met the fashion designer Paul Poiret, who became her mentor and close friend.

The House of Schiaparelli was founded in 1927, and Elsa’s unconventional and innovative approach shook the fashion scene. Her trompe-l’oeil sweaters were fun and fashionable, she invented some of the earliest wrap dresses, helped popularize the aesthetic integration of zippers, and collaborated with many surrealist artists such as Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau.

In a way, Schiaparelli was inventing the precursor to influencer marketing, too!

Elsa wasn’t just a name to know in the fashion industry; she was a social it girl, too. Her friendship with Daisy Fellowes would lead to one of the most impactful colors in fashion history: Schiaparelli Shocking Pink.

So What’s the Story Behind Schiaparelli Shocking Pink?

Every icon has an origin story, and this powerful pink certainly has a glamorous one. Elsa Schiaparelli was a fabulous woman with fabulous friends. Her friend and client Daisy Fellowes was the heiress to the Singer Sewing empire and the editor of Harper's Bazaar.

She had the style to prove it. On a delightful Parisian summer day, Daisy met with Elsa for lunch. On Daisy’s finger sat a stunning, hot pink Carier Diamond.

The brilliance of the stone had Elsa absolutely smitten. She wrote that the diamond was “bright, impossible, impudent,–a shocking color, pure and undiluted”, and that shocking pink was just what the fashion world needed. It was 1937, and fashion was dominated by the drab and dull as a reaction to unrest in Europe. 

Schiaparelli Shocking Pink was like lightning striking the fashion scene, and jolting it back to life. The color was bold, bright, and unafraid to be ultra-feminine. Like Elsa herself, the color was revolutionary and rebellious. It was a fashionable reminder to be loud, proud, and yourself. It was designed to be creative and expressive in an era of conformity.

This helped solidify Schiaparelli's brand image.

A brand image so stable in fact, that Schiaparelli’s identity is easily recognizable almost 100 years later.

Elsa wasn’t only a creative genius but a marketing one as well.

How Color Psychology Leaves an Impression In Marketing

Color helps tell consumers a lot about what they’re getting into without using any words at all.

It is one of the most powerful tools to help influence consumer decision-making at a subconscious level. Consumers make decisions quickly, and in some cases, color alone can guide up to 90% of that decision-making process!

While context and culture can have different connotations for colors, it is a largely universal language. A strong understanding of color theory is essential for creating an emotional connection with consumers. Think of your high school English class.

Blue denotes trustworthiness and calm, red is passionate and energetic, and green is healing and natural. This is why finance companies tend to use blue in their branding (trust us with your money!), or wellness brands use green (we’ll help you feel better!). 

Colors also shape a sense of brand loyalty and familiarity. Every Taylor Swift album is instantly recognizable by its color, and every era leans into its own distinct personal brand. Red is well, red. It stands out as an upbeat, passionate pop album with emotionally heavy hitters. The same goes for Speak Now and its whimsical, deep purple that has us all enchanted.

And Schiaparelli Shocking Pink? Yeah, she’s the definitive “cool girl”. This is a brand for the women who are fearless and stylish with expensive taste, and for women who aren’t afraid to shatter expectations. Pink is feminine, bright, and bold. Pink tells us the kind of fashion house Schiaparelli is. Daring, bold, and just a bit sassy.

The Maintenance of an Icon

Building a brand identity isn’t as simple as picking a color, setting it, and forgetting it. It takes more than pure aesthetics to curate brand loyalty from consumers. Customers like to identify with a brand on a personal level. To be iconic, a brand has to do what it takes to mean something to people.

When a brand has been around for as long as Schiaparelli has, inevitably it will evolve.

Collections may come and go, garment silhouettes may change, and creative directors may be replaced, but the wacky and weird DNA of Schiaparelli will always be there. Schiaparelli Shocking Pink stays iconic because it never lets the public forget that she is that girl.

Schiaparelli still uses its bold pink to this day. What started as a diamond in the rough became part of a perfume advertising campaign in 1937, and still strutted its way down the runway in their 2025 runway collections.

A Lasting Legacy In Culture

Even if most people don’t realize it, everyone has seen Shocking Pink before. And she is a show-stopper every time she’s referenced.

The two most iconic uses of Schiaparelli’s signature hue include the legendary Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and has become equally entangled in the legacy of one of the world's other top It Girls, Miss Barbie herself.

Lady Gaga’s red carpet transformation during the 2019 Met Gala paid the color tribute with not one, but two stunning gowns sporting the iconic pink.

Elsa Sciaparelli’s symbiotic relationship with surrealist artist Salvador Dali also solidified her impact in the art world. Leonor Fini helped design the original bottle for Shocking, and Salvador Dali designed a couch shaped like Mae West’s lips. The color also added vibrant pops of color to his paintings for the duration of his career.

Shocking Pink came from a place of boldness, authenticity, and from the mind of a designer who knew who she was and what she stood for. Schiaparelli’s genius is a case study in the relationship between artistic integrity and marketing prowess. If brands want to build a legacy, going back to the basics and build an identity that tells customers why they are here to stay.

🪽 Written by Amy Hale