Paul Poiret

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(b Paris, 20 April 1879; d Paris, 28 April 1944). French costume designer, dress designer and painter. Despite paternal opposition to his precocious artistic gifts, he attracted attention with his first fashion drawings for Mme Ch?ruit at the Maison Raudnitz, 21, Place Vend?me, Paris. From 1898 to 1900 he worked for Jacques Doucet and distinguished himself by creating the famous costume 'Aiglon' (Fr.: 'eaglet'; the nickname of Napoleon II; untraced) for Sarah Bernhardt. From 1901 he worked for the fashion house Worth, where he designed the Eastern-influenced cloak, Confucius (1901-2; Paris, Mus. Mode & Cost.). Poiret opened his first fashion house in 1902 on the Rue Auber in Paris. There he produced innovative designs such as the kimono coat, the R?v?rend (1905; Paris, Mus. Mode & Cost.), and enlarged his clientele of famous customers. The richness of materials, violence of colouring and style and taste for orientalism in such designs as that for the Sorbet dress (1913; London, V&A) all suggest a profound affinity with the Ballets Russes. In 1910 he opened new salons in a large 18th-century house, in the Avenue d'Antin, where he created his famous 'hobble-skirted' dresses, drawn in at the hem. He adopted an orientalizing style in the theatrical costumes he designed later for Nabuchodonosor, first peformed in January 1911 at the Th??tre des Arts in Paris; Le Minaret, performed during the spring of 1913 at the Th??tre de la Renaissance in Paris; and Aphrodite, performed during the spring of 1914 at the Th??tre de la Renaissance. For Le Minaret Poiret was joined by fellow designer Ert?, who contributed the costume for Mata-Hari; Ert? worked with him until the closure of the Maison Poiret.

See the Abbreviations for further details.

Paul Poiret (1879-1944) was an influential French fashion designer during the early twentieth century. He led a fashion renaissance that introduced free-flowing dresses, replaced tight corsets with brassieres, and added a new standard of artistic value to his fashion plates.

Poiret was born on April 20, 1879 in Paris. His father was a cloth merchant, and Poiret lived with his parents and his three sisters in an apartment above the shop. Poiret's parents had an interest in the arts and embellished their home with whatever art works they could afford. The family also owned a country house outside of Paris, at Billancourt, where Poiret spent his spare time constructing fountains, pressing petals from the garden, and gathering odd bits of iron and junk into what he called his antique collection.

When Poiret was 12, he and his family moved to Rue des Halles in Paris, where Poiret attended Ecole Massillon. When his sisters contracted scarlet fever, he was sent away to boarding school in order to avoid the illness He was only an average student and was often homesick. Poiret was already interested in fashion and found pleasure in scanning magazines and catalogs; he also enjoyed going to the theater and art exhibits. After his graduation, at the age of 18, his father sent him to an umbrella maker to learn the trade. Poiret hated the business and continued to pursue his interest in fashion by drawing and sewing designs in his spare time, using a small wooden mannequin his sisters had given him.

The Maison Doucet

Poiret's big break came when a friend encouraged him to take some of his designs to a woman named Mademoiselle Choruit, at the Maison Raundnizt Soeurs. Mme. Choruit was impressed with Poiret's work and bought 12 designs from him, encouraging him to return with more. From there, Poiret started to gain other clients and to visit other dress houses. In 1896, a designer named Doucet offered Poiret a full time job. Poiret had to take his disbelieving father to Doucet's studio in order to convince him that the offer was real.

Poiret thrived at the Maison Doucet, which was at the height of its prosperity. His first design was a red cloak; 400 copies sold and customers demanded the design in other colors. Thus Poiret's position in the designing business was secured. At Doucet's, Poiret created new designs every week, which were then exhibited by ladies at the horse races on Sundays. Poiret also designed costumes for various theatrical productions, which he enjoyed greatly.

Encouraged by Doucet, who expressed appreciation and admiration for his employee's designs, Poiret threw himself into his work. People began to recognize his name and his designs. He was encouraged to venture out into Parisian society a little more. Upon doing so, Poiret met Madame Potiphar, with whom he began a love affair. Relations with his father became tense, as Poiret developed a taste for independence. His relationship with Doucet suffered a similar strain because of some professional indiscretions. As a result, Poiret left the Maison Doucet, but was relieved to learn that his mentor did not bear a grudge. Poiret always respected Doucet and considered him to be a friend.

Moved Up in the World of Design

Two months after leaving the Maison Doucet, Poiret was recruited into the army and spent the next year in military service. He did not enjoy this time, but did manage to gain a short leave of absence during which he returned to Paris and again engaged in, as Poiret explained in his autobiography, King of Fashion: The Autobiography of Paul Poiret, "the study of what pleased me: feminine elegance."

After fulfillment of his military obligations, Poiret returned to Paris and accepted a position at the dressmaking firm of Maison Worth, which was run by two brothers, Gaston and Jean Worth. Here, Poiret began to design dresses for the general public, rather than the high-society ladies of Paris. The result was a reformation in fashion that freed the body from constricting forms. Poiret's new dresses were simple in design, featuring a classical-style high waist-line, tubular shape, and long skirt. The colors were plain and bold, often with very small designs, which were popular at the time.

Gaston Worth appreciated the profit Poiret's designs brought. His brother Jean, on the other hand, hated the lowering of standards he perceived Poiret was bringing upon their business. At one point Poiret presented some designs to a Russian princess, who was appalled with them. Discouraged at his inability to please such an audience, and becoming more interested in designing for the general market, Poiret left the Maison Worth and set out on his own.

With some financial help from his mother (his father had passed away by this time), Poiret set up shop at No. 5, Rue Auber, in Paris. His shop was modest, but Poiret gained the attention of passers-by with elaborate and colorful window displays. Within a month, his dress shop became popular. Poiret perfected the cloak that the Russian princess had scorned and that eventually became so popular that, as he said in his autobiography, "Every woman bought at least one." He called it "Confucius," and credited it with the beginning of the Asian influence in fashion.

This was the age of the corset, and Poiret waged war upon it. He popularized the brassiere, which gave women much more freedom and comfort. At the same time, however, he also created the innovative and popular tight skirt. Neither of these inventions were initially profitable because of his dishonest bookkeeper. The bookkeeper's response to Poiret's accusations of theft was to suggest that they visit a psychic, who promptly identified him as the man who was stealing money from Poiret. Thus the bookkeeper was dismissed, and Poiret was able to move on with his business in a more successful way. Eventually the shop at Rue Auber became too small to contain Poiret's growing business, and he moved into a house on Rue Pasquier. A dressmaker operating out of his home was not a common occurrence at that time, and Poiret raised many eyebrows and endured many slanderous comments because of his unusual business practices. None of the criticism, however, affected his growing reputation.

Poiret was becoming increasingly popular with the public, but was somewhat dissatisfied with his personal life. He had drifted in and out of love affairs and now longed for something more stable. He decided to begin a family and married a simple country girl whom he had known as a child. Poiret and his new wife traveled throughout Europe, learning more about the arts.

A Strong Influence

In his autobiography, Poiret stated, "People have been good enough to say that I have exercised a powerful influence over my age, and that I have inspired the whole of my generation. I dare not make the pretension that this is true … "; however, he goes on to say that what influence he did have was not in the creation of new styles or restoring of color to a woman's wardrobe, both of which he did, but rather, he says, "It was in my inspiration of artists, in my dressing of theatrical pieces, in my assimilation of and response to new needs, that I served the public of my day." Fashion design had come under the influence of photography and the high standard of artistic influence, as revealed in the fashion plates of such publications as the Journal des Dames et des Modes, had disappeared. Poiret was refreshingly innovative in his approach to design, restoring the artist as an important and creative force in fashion.

An important example of Poiret's artistic influence was in his work with Paul Iribe. With Iribe creating the drawings that pictured Poiret's dresses, they produced a publication for the elite society titled Les Robes de Paul Poiret, racontees par Paul Iribe. Poiret produced a similar album with artist Georges Lepape two years later titled Les choses de Paul Poiret vues par Georges Lepape. Both publications were tremendously successful. In these ways, Poiret helped artists gain exposure in the public eye and helped them develop their talents. Consequentially, fashion illustration and literature once again became very popular. New publications appeared, such as the monthly Gazette du Bon Ton, which featured many of Poiret's designs.

Poiret also promoted the careers of several actresses, who gained recognition partly because of the costumes he designed for them. Poiret was the first costume designer to consider the lighting and the background of each scene when creating dresses for a theatrical performance. For the first time, the costume creator and the scenic artists of the theater worked together to create a visual impression that was an experience in and of itself.

Expanding Interests

Poiret continued to promote his own career. He said in his autobiography, "I did not wait for my success to grow by itself. I worked like a demon to increase it, and everything that could stimulate it seemed good to me." One of the ways he did this was by organizing a tour of the main capitals of Europe with nine models, showing his designs. The tour, taken in two automobiles, took Poiret and the women to such cities as Berlin, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Bucharest.

Poiret's interests included painting, boating, and participating in the Mortigny Club, a group of artists and dignitaries. He also established a school of decorative art in 1912, which he named Martine and which later provided Poiret with the inspiration for his founding of the Maison Martine. His school provided young Parisian women the opportunity to learn about design. The curriculum was unstructured, and the women were allowed to create as they wished, without criticism. The school gained the attention of many artists, including Raoul Dufy. Dufy and Poiret struck up a friendship, and Poiret sponsored Dufy in his artistic endeavors. Poiret even ventured into the world of art exhibition in 1924, when he exhibited Dufy's work. The endeavor proved to be unsuccessful, and Poiret did not pursue it further.

Perfumery and Parties

Poiret's career was temporarily halted when he was called into the military at the outbreak of World War I. He was released from service in 1917, after which he spent several months in Morocco, trying to recuperate from the experience of war. He then resumed his dressmaking business in Paris. By now he had established himself in the businesses of perfumery and interior decoration. Poiret also began conducting business with firms in America.

One of Poiret's favorite pastimes was giving parties, something that he had developed a passion for as a child. These huge fetes were elaborate and well attended and covered every gamut of entertainment, from dancers and orchestras to immense buffets and hundreds of carafes filled with exotic drinks. One party even featured a python, a monkey merchant, and a garden of wild animals. Some were based on themes, and others revolved around a performance in the "Oasis," a theater Poiret had created in his garden. Poiret also planned parties and balls for other people, events that were long remembered and talked about by those who attended.

Poiret spent his latter years indulging in his love of painting. He died on April 30, 1944 in Paris.

Further Reading

Choice, February 1991.

Mackrell, Alice, Paul Poiret, Holmes and Meier, 1990.

Pile, John, Dictionary of 20th-Century Design, Roundtable Press, Inc., 1990.

Poiret, Paul, King of Fashion: The Autobiography of Paul Poiret, translated by Stephen Haden Guest, J. B. Lippincott, 1931.

Poiret was a key figure in the French fashion industry of the early decades of the 20th century, particularly his introduction of a strong oriental flavour and rich colours to contemporary clothing. This was inspired by the dramatic settings and costumes for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes by Leon Bakst and others that first took Paris by storm in 1908. Poiret's work was widely disseminated by fashion illustrators through publications such as Les Robes de Paul Poiret raconté par Paul Iribe (1908) and Les Choses de Paul Poiret vues par Georges Lepape (1911).

After meeting leading couturier and collector Jacques Doucet in 1896 Poiret had moved into dress design, working for Worth before setting up independently in 1904. After meeting Josef Hoffmann in Vienna in 1910 and seeing the multidisciplinary outlook and activities of the Wiener Werkstätte at first hand he established the Atelier Martine in Paris in 1911. Named after his second daughter this school of decorative art was attended by working-class girls with no formal training. They produced bold, colourful patterns for textiles, wallpapers, ceramics, murals, and furniture perhaps partly inspired by the flower-patterned textiles of the Wiener Werkstätte that themselves drew on folk art. Poiret arranged for the work of the Martines (as the participants in the Atelier were known) to be shown at the Salon d'Automne in 1912, leading him to establish an interior design business under the name of L'Atelier Martine. Advice was offered for the interior decoration of cafés, hotels, offices, and private houses and the venture proved so successful that a London branch was opened in 1924. The Atelier Martine also produced designs for the prestigious luxury liner Île de France (1927) on which many leading French designers collaborated. At the Paris Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels of 1925 Poiret exhibited three barges moored on the Seine near the entrance entitled Amours, Délices, and Orgues that included hangings by Raoul Dufy and room settings, furniture, and furnishings by the Atelier Martine. However, as a result of the difficult economic times from the late 1920s Poiret's fashion business went into decline.

Paul Poiret, c. 1913

Paul Poiret (20 April 1879, Paris, France - 30 April 1944, Paris) was a French fashion designer. His contributions to twentieth-century fashion have been likened to Picasso's contributions to twentieth-century art.^[1][2]

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Poiret's influence expands 3 Collapse of the Poiret fashion house 4 Aesthetic 5 Personal life 6 References 7 See also 8 External links

Early life and career

Poiret was born on April 20, 1879 to a cloth merchant in the poor neighborhood of Les Halles, Paris.^[1] His parents, in an effort to rid him of his natural pride, apprenticed him to an umbrella maker.^[1] There, he collected scraps of silk left over from the cutting of umbrella patterns, and fashioned clothes for a doll that one of his sisters had given him.^[1] While a teenager, Poiret took his sketches to Madeleine Cheruit, a prominent dressmaker, who purchased a dozen from him.^[1] Poiret continued to sell his drawings, eventually to major Parisian couture houses, until he was hired by Jacques Doucet in 1896.^[1] His first design, a red cloth cape, sold 400 copies.^[1] Poiret later moved to the House of Worth, where he was responsible for designing simple, practical dresses.^[1] The "brazen modernity of his designs," however, proved too much for Worth's conservative clientele.^[1] When Poiret presented the Russian Princess Bariantinsky with a Confucius coat with an innovative kimono-like cut, for instance, she exclaimed, "What a horror! When there are low fellows who run after our sledges and annoy us, we have their heads cut off, and we put them in sacks just like that."^[1]

Poiret's influence expands

Poiret illustrations by Paul Iribe, 1908

This section requires expansion.

Poiret established his own house in 1903, and made his name with the controversial kimono coat.^[1] He designed flamboyant window displays and threw legendary parties to draw attention to his work; his instinct for marketing and branding was unmatched by any previous designer.^[1] In 1909, he was so famous that H. H. Asquith invited him to show his designs at 10 Downing Street.^[1] The cheapest garment at the exhibition was 30 guineas, double the annual salary of a scullery maid.^[1]

Poiret's house expanded to encompass furniture, decor, and fragrance in addition to clothing.^[1] In 1911, he established the company Parfums de Rosine, named for his eldest daughter. Poiret's name was never linked to the company, but it was effectively the first fragrance launched by a designer.^[3][1]

He launched the Ecole Martine, named for his second daughter, to provide artistically inclined, working-class girls with trade skills and income.

Collapse of the Poiret fashion house

During World War I, Poiret left his fashion house to serve the military by streamlining uniform production.^[1] When Poiret returned after being discharged in 1919, the house was on the brink of bankruptcy.^[1] New designers like Chanel were producing simple, sleek clothes that relied on excellent workmanship.^[1] In comparison, Poiret's elaborate designs seemed dowdy and poorly manufactured.^[1] (Though Poiret's designs were groundbreaking, his construction was not--he aimed only for his dresses to "read beautifully from afar."^[1]) Poiret was suddenly out of fashion, in debt, and lacking support from his business partners, and he soon left his fashion house.^[1] In 1929, the house itself was closed, and its leftover clothes were sold by the kilogram as rags.^[1] When Poiret died in 1944, his genius had been forgotten.^[1]

Aesthetic

Model in a Poiret dress, 1914

Though perhaps best known for freeing women from corsets and for his startling inventions including hobble skirts, "harem" pantaloons, and "lampshade" tunics, Poiret's major contribution to fashion was his development of an approach to dressmaking centered on draping, a radical departure from the tailoring and pattern-making of the past.^[4] Poiret was influenced by antique and regional dress, and favored clothing cut along straight lines and constructed of rectangles.^[4] The structural simplicity of his clothing represented a "pivotal moment in the emergence of modernism" generally, and "effectively established the paradigm of modern fashion, irrevocably changing the direction of costume history.^[4]

Personal life

In 1905, Poiret married Denise Boulet, a provincial girl; they would later have five children together.^[1] Denise, a slender and youthful woman, was Poiret's muse and the prototype of la garçonne.^[4] In 1913, Poiret told Vogue, "My wife is the inspiration for all my creations; she is the expression of all my ideals."^[4] The two later were divorced, in a proceeding that was far from amicable.^[1]

Poiret was notorious for throwing lavish parties and plays featuring his designs.^[5] For one of his famous parties, the June 24, 1911, "The Thousand and Second Night" (based on The Arabian Nights), he required his over 300 guests to dress in Oriental costuming.^[5][3] Improperly dressed guests were requested to either outfit themselves in some of Poiret's 'Persian' outfits or to leave.^[3]

References

Model in a Poiret suit, 1914

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z} Bowles, Hamish. "Fashioning the Century." Vogue (May 2007): 236-250. A condensed version of this article appears online.
2. ^ The Way We Move: How Paul Poiret freed us from the corset, by Josh Patner, Slate, May 18, 2007
3. ^ ^{a b c} Shi, Jim (October 2, 2006). "Costume Institute Picks Poiret". Fashion Week Daily. http://www.fashionweekdaily.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsID=368074&itype=8486. Retrieved 2007-03-10. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Special Exhibitions: Poiret: King of Fashion
5. ^ ^{a b} Chadwick, Whitney (June 2004). "Couture Culture: A Study in Modern Art and Fashion". Art Bulletin 86 (2): 384. doi:10.2307/3177425. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0422/is_2_86/ai_n6121021/pg_5. Retrieved 2007-03-10. 

See also

• History of fashion design
• 1900s in fashion
• 1910s in fashion

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Paul Poiret

• List of books about Paul Poiret (French)
• Two animations by SOFTlab showing the draping used to construct Poiret dresses
• Paul Poiret on Vogue

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