A muse to designer: partnerships that have become legend

Many fashion designers would not have achieved a certain success without the contribution of their favourite muse, whose influence gave inspiration to their aesthetic vision.

The most emblematic case is that of Salvador Dalì and Elsa Schiaparelli. The "Schiap", of noble origins and rebellious soul, met the surrealist artist in Paris. The harmony between the two of them was immediate and gave birth to a riot of excesses. The first was, in 1937, the iconic white dress with lobster embroidered on the groin, a real challenge to the concept of purity and to social conventions. Then it was the turn of the coffered dress, Mae West's famous lips on a belt, but also the phone-shaped bag and feather and fur headdresses.

The friendship between Betty Catroux and Yves Saint Laurent was born between scandals and elective affinities. A “female alter ego”, as Yves liked to call her, was the first it-girl to fully embody the Zeitgeist of the 1970s. Long legs, thin face, platinum blond hair and androgynous allure: Catroux, even before gender fluid entered the common lexicon, personified the aesthetic code of Saint Laurent.

Forerunner of body-consciousness, Alaïa sculpted the body of women with garments that were never vulgar. His creations came to life on the body of Grace Jones, a Jamaican actress with such unconventional aesthetics as to be considered one of the breaking points of the stereotypical beauty canons of the fashion system. 

The first meeting between the two was unsuccessful: the singer snubbed the couturier's sketches and totally ignored the collaboration proposal. The following year, however, in 1989, Ciccone retraced her steps and decided to entrust Gaultier with the definition of her image as a pop star. For the Blonde Ambition Tour, Gaultier designed the iconic corsets with cone-shaped breasts, paying homage to her rock and controversial sensuality.

Fashion editor, talent scout and style icon Isabella Blow was one of the most influential figures in the fashion biz. She discovered talents of Philip Treacy and Alexander McQueen level, of whom she was the inspiring muse. It was the year 1992 when the “mad hatter”, during the closing ceremony of Central Saint Martins in London, was struck by the collection of a young rookie Alexander, between the dark and fairytale characteristics that seemed to describe herself. Confident of the designer's talent, she bought all the pieces at a cost of £ 5,000, exhausting her savings. It was the beginning of a brotherly friendship, which also shared the same tragic fate: Blow committed suicide in 2008 and McQueen in 2010.

However, the story of stainless couples does not end there. How not to think of the Mediterranean duo Dolce & Gabbana and Monica Bellucci, but also the one now marked by a decades-long intimate friendship composed of the model Mariacarla Boscono and Riccardo Tisci. Another example is French designer Jacquemus and Bella Hadid, who recently posed on FaceTime for last summer's ad campaign. Finally, the one between Donatella Versace and Irina Shayk, the muse with a sculptural physique and very sensual gaze, which represents the quintessence of the Versace style.