A general theory for multilayered anisotropic elastic shells is developed in an asymptotic variational framework of 3-D elasticity. The generic shell continuum considered is heterogeneous through the thickness. It is shown that the classical laminated shell theory based on Love's assumption arises naturally as the first-order approximation to the 3-D theory. Higher-order corrections can be determined by solving the 2-D shell equations hierarchically. The associated edge conditions at each level of approximation are derived. Various types of shells such as shells of revolution, conical shells, spherical shells, circular cylindrical shells can be treated within the context.
