This thesis explores the links between early twentieth-century haute couture and the Italian avant-garde movement, Futurism. Although a definite cause-to-effect relationship cannot necessarily be assigned, the artistic and aesthetic elements of Futurist fashion and costume design, coupled with the mode of theatrical presentation used in the Futurist Serata (Evening), are similar to the ideas inherent in haute couture at the beginning of the last century. This parallelism calls for a closer examination, as Futurist theories of performance, costume design, and fashion resonated outside the movement long after its own demise.
My exploration considers the externally influential contributions and lasting impact Futurism has made beyond the movement’s own walls. I assess both Futurism’s direct and indirect interplay with haute couture through the comparison of theatrical elements inherent in both areas, analyze Futurist and haute couture interaction with theatrical costume design, and provide a thorough examination of Futurist fashion and its striking similarities to haute couture designs a mere ten years later.
In the first chapter I analyze the similarities of performance characteristics and strategies in the Futurist Serata and early twentieth-century fashion show. In the second chapter I continue to explore the dramatic and performative nature inherent in both Futurism and haute couture by examining their intersections with theatrical costume design; the analysis culminates with the specific example of the Ballets Russes. Finally, in the third chapter I examine the work of one haute couture fashion designer that embodies many of the chief elements prescribed in several futurist manifestoes. Italian-born Elsa Schiaparelli, an innovative and provocative designer of the 1930s, provides an excellent example of the limit-testing and boundary-pushing the Futurists championed within the realm of performance-wear.
