Liebes won a gold medal for her woven panel "Schiaparelli" at the Paris International Exhibition, which opened May 25, 1937, bringing her global recognition.
The Paris International Exhibition of Arts and Techniques in Modern Life opened its doors on May 25, 1937, drawing designers, artists, and architects from around the world to showcase the cutting edge of modern design. Among the honorees was Dorothy Liebes, who was awarded a gold medal for her woven textile panel titled "Schiaparelli"—named in homage to the surrealist-influenced fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, whose bold aesthetic sensibilities paralleled Liebes's own experimental approach to color and texture.
This award represented a watershed moment in Liebes's international reputation. Winning recognition at a prestigious Parisian exposition, then still considered the epicenter of the design world, validated her innovative techniques—her characteristic mixing of unconventional materials like metallic yarns, leather strips, and bamboo with traditional fibers, and her daring, saturated color palettes that defied the muted conventions of much contemporary textile design.
The gold medal elevated Liebes from a respected regional (San Francisco-based) designer to an internationally recognized figure in the modern design movement, opening doors to further architectural and industrial commissions throughout the following decades and cementing the credibility of handwoven textiles as fine art and serious design within elite international circles.