Which designer created the 1930s shoe-hat, a surrealist hat shaped like a woman’s shoe?

Elsa Schiaparelli created the 1930s shoe-hat, a surrealist hat shaped like a woman’s shoe.

The design was produced in collaboration with the artist Salvador Dalí, whose surrealist imagery strongly influenced Schiaparelli’s work. The hat placed the shoe’s heel upward and its toe forward, turning an everyday object into an intentionally strange fashion accessory.

Schiaparelli frequently worked with artists and used visual jokes, unexpected forms, and trompe-l’œil effects in her collections. The shoe-hat is sometimes confused with her lobster dress, another Dalí-associated design, but the two are different garments. Schiaparelli’s approach contrasted with the more restrained luxury associated with Coco Chanel, her famous rival in Parisian fashion during the interwar period.