I've always been fascinated by Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. Highly controversial figures even 80 years after the abdication, many details of their lives are still debated amongst historians. One thing most can agree on, however, is that they had incredible taste and personal style. Both Wallis and Edward expressed themselves sartorially and and through the homes in which they lived, and their influence on fashion and design endures to this day.

One of Wallis's most iconic looks of all time has to be the Lobster Dress, created by Elsa Schiaparelli in collaboration with Salvador Dali in 1935. Cecil Beaton captured the Duchess wearing the dress at the Chateau de Cande for Vogue, producing iconic images from which countless designers and contemporary labels have drawn inspiration, including Tibi, who created an striking summer dress with a large lobster on the front.

Today the lobster motif is synonymous with the house of Schiaparelli, featured prominently in the maison's recent couture collection. Below are a few examples of the Lobster motif from Schiaparelli and from some of the designers inspired by the original.

The Duchess of Windsor. Photo by Cecil Beaton for Vogue, 1937, at the Chateau de Cande.

Isaac Mizrahi's take on the dress for "The Great Pretender" - a Wallis-inspired editorial captured by Karl Lagerfeld for NY Times Magazine, 1993.

Anna Wintour pays tribute to Schiaparelli in a Prada lobster-motif dress for the 2012 Met Gala. The theme: "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations".

Bertrand Guyon's interpretation for Schiaparelli Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2016.

Bertrand Guyon for Schiaparelli Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2017.