Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada Meet at the Met EAVESDROPPING on an imaginary chat between Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada: a few snippets from the dialogue assembled by the curators of the Met exhibition. Parts of the dialogue will be included in the catalog and video installations throughout the show. ES: Many men admire strong women, but they do not love them. Some women have achieved a combination of strength and tenderness, but most of those who have wanted to walk alone have, in the course of the game, lost their happiness. MP: I'm interested in the lives of women in general, which is why I love aprons. The apron is a recurring theme in my work because it is symbolic of women's sufferance. ... It's an emblem of women's despair, their poverty, their passions. I love drama and romance. It's one of the reasons why I love antique jewelry - I like to live the lives of other women. ES: Fashion is born by small facts, trends ... never by trying to make little pleats and furbelow, by trinkets, by clothes easy to copy, or by the shortening or lengthening of a skirt. MP: When I design, my personal interests are my primary focus, my personal interests in life, in society, in culture. But I'm always conscious of the cycle of fashion, of whether I should follow red with black, a short skirt with a long skirt. ... For me, it's important to anticipate where fashion is heading. ES: One has to sense the trend of history and precede it. MP: One of the reasons I became a designer was because I couldn't find anything that I wanted to wear myself. In the "80s, everything was designed, and I rejected the idea of design. I hated it. Instead, I'd wear vintage clothes and uniforms - uniforms of all kinds, but especially service and children's uniforms. If I wanted a new dress, I'd go to a tailor or maker of children's clothes. ... Actually, I was married in a dress made by a tailor of children's clothes. ES: My wedding took place with no fuss, no white gown - in a registry office in London. I remember Piccadilly being invaded that day by suffragettes, mad masculine furies, collectively and individually hideous, screaming for the vote. ... MP: I hate the idea that you shouldn't wear something just because you're a certain age. ES: I enjoy creating for the woman who, no matter what her years, wears my clothes with the poise of youth. MP: Women always try to tame themselves as they get older, but the ones who look best are often a bit wilder. Thinking about age all the time is the biggest prison women can make for themselves.