1879-1944
Paul Poiret was the first of the fashion celebrities. He had a personality as news worthy as his clothes. However the age of Poiret was very brief, from 1904 when he opened his own house to 1914 when he joined the army in world war 1. After the war, his clothes were popular till about 1929.
During that brief period, Poiret ushered in the 20th century woman, outlawed the corset and in his own words 'freed the breasts and shackled the legs'. Poiret's clothes were revolutionary and modern.
Paul Poiret was born in 1879 to a Cloth merchant of Paris. His hobby was designing dresses. He took 12 of these to Madame Cheruit at the House of Raudnitz Soeurs and she bought them all.
In 1899 he joined Doucet, he was also selling designs to Redfern and Maggy Rouff.
His first garment for Doucet was a red cloak with grey silk lining which sold 400 versions. Doucet started entrusting him with dressing prestigious clients.
In 1900 Poiret served briefly in the army but returned to Paris to work for Worth in 1901. In 1904, he opened his own house at 5, rue Auber.
A year later, he married Denise, a dark slender young woman who soon began wearing his gowns and became his desirable model. In his salon he showed the new woman wearing very flamboyant gowns. The Countess Greffulhe wore one of his outrageous sheaths to her daughter's wedding and so he was launched.
Poiret always said that his success was due to giving women exactly what they have always wanted, freedom.
Poiret means sumptuousness but some of his designs were radically simple. He made simple slender sheaths with wide necklines, pleated underblouses with stripes or dots. Decorations were kept to a minimum. He was the first to encourage the brassiere.
In 1905 Poiret presented his "Nouvelle Vague" line, which featured dresses which did not require corsets underneath them.
Poiret dressed Ida Rubinstein, Isadora Duncan, Eleanore Duse and Sarah Bernhardt. He never advertised, but threw fabulous parties where his clothes could be seen to perfection, this method was later called ' public relations.'
In 1909 he published a brochure illustrated by Paul Iribe and Georges Lepape entitled "Les Robes de Paul Poiret" and in 1911, a second brochure called "Les Choses de Paul Poiret". These brochures showed simple elegant, softly-fitted gowns quite unlike the tightly corsetted over-festooned dresses of the period. To see the work of these two illustrators, click on Paul Iribe and Georges Lepape.
Between 1909 and 1924, he opened further shops in Paris, which all promoted his oriental designs.
In 1909, he promoted the Kimono shape, turbans, aigrettes and harem pants - all inspired by the Ballets Russes which had provoked enormous interest in Europe.
1911 was a fertile year for Poiret. He set up his perfumery business and introduced the first Designer perfume "Martine" named after his second daughter, and opened his shop for rugs, wall coverings, pottery, furniture, shoes, fans, gloves, etc. and he also engaged painter Raoul Dufy to design bold fabrics for cloaks, shawls and dresses. He also visited Russia in 1911 and his clothes started to reflect Slavic and Russian influences.
In 1911 he introduced the Hobble Skirt, which freed the waist, but confined the ankles. Later he split it in the middle for more freedom of movement. This skirt attracted a great deal of attention.
He also produced one of his most famous shapes, the Lampshade, wiring a tunic, so that the hem stood out all around the body. One of these dresses is shown in the picture at the top of this page.
In 1911, Poiret held his famous "thousand and one Nights" party at which women wore his long trousers, overalls, culottes and oriental gowns. He himself wore a turban.
In 1912 he toured Europe and in 1913 toured the USA with a group of models, to promote his designs including harem pants and oriental patterns.
In 1914 Poiret joined the military and closed his house till 1918 however as the 20's approached, his importance waned and he was never able to provide clothes to suit post-war women. Other designers stepped in.
He opened shops in Cannes, Deauville, Biarritz and La Boule during the years 1921 to 1925. His last major success was at the Exposition des Arts Decoratifs (Art Deco) in 1925, where exhibits were held on 3 boats. After this, his success went downhill. His wife Denise left him, and he declared bankruptcy in 1929. There is a story that during the 20's he met young Coco Chanel, who had brought out a collection of little black dresses. "Who are you in mourning for" Poiret asked Chanel, "for you, dear Monsieur" she said. And she was right because her star zoomed up and his fell down.
He lived on in poverty for 15 years and died in obscurity in 1944.
Re-discovery
In April 2005, in Paris, Francoise Auguet an antique clothes dealer, held an exhibition-cum-sale of 600 clothes all the same size, made by Poiret for his wife Denise.
The sale brought in 1.2 million pounds. All the clothes had been stored in wardrobes at the home of Poiret's grand-daughter for half a century.
All the meadow-fresh empire-line dresses, soft Grecian tunics and exotic gowns thrilled a new generation who had forgotten the wonderful work of Paul Poiret so long ago. Azzedine Alaia, with his deep knowledge of fashion history and himself an avid collector, offered his showroom to display the Poiret collection before the sale.
click below:
Paul Poiret (Fashion Designers Series) by Alice McKrell
Poiret: Paul Poiret 1879-1944 by Yvonne Deslandres
Poiret Fashion Review Paper Dolls, very accurate, in full colour, by Tom Tierney
2005