The collaboration between Marcel Vertès and Elsa Schiaparelli took many forms. It began in 1937 with the creation of advertising illustrations to promote the Shocking perfume.

Vertès then worked on most of the Schiaparelli perfumes: Sleeping, Eau de Santé, Salut, Zut, Snuff as well as on cosmetics.

He also created prints for Schiaparelli: Veuve Joyeuse, depicting elegant women wearing large hats or muffs and walking poodles, or Les Vieux Beaux, sketching fin de siècle dandies.

Finally, Vertès created more personal pieces for Elsa, who became his friend over the years, with whom he traveled several times, as she recounts in her memoirs.