Paul Poiret
Paul Poiret ( born April 20, 1879 in Paris, † April 28, 1944 ) was a French fashion designer.
Life and work
After years of study, inter alia, with Jacques Doucet and Charles Frederick Worth to Poiret made in 1904 with its own independent salon. In 1909, the Ballets Russes came to Paris, he was inspired by the stage costumes for oriental-style, flowing robes.
Unlike the designs of his colleagues Poiret's models were first worn without a corset, yet not only chic, but downright elegant - revolutionary for that time. He propagated even divided skirts, which until then were only accepted at cyclists. In 1911 he made , however ( from an emancipatory point of view) a step backwards by inventing the so-called hobble. In the same year he founded for his younger daughter, Les Ateliers de Martine and for the older daughter Rosine, the company Parfums de Rosine was founded. With its fragrance creations on the basis of Rose fragrances Paul Poiret is true long before Coco Chanel as the creator of designer perfumes.
In 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War Poiret developed for the French army the first new military jacket since 1877. After it had been determined that all fabric colors, even those of the tricolor, were imported from the now hostile Germany, the French army could only take access to the inventory of a German subsidiary. According to the original plan, a new uniform fabric in the French national colors red - white - blue weave, you had soon dropped because no confiscated red import color was available in sufficient quantity. So the new coat fabric was woven indigo blue and white in tones. By chance optics of the French soldiers at the front was the later famous " horizon blue " originated. Poiret introduced his new single tier shortened coat with aufknöpfbaren laps and soft collar in September 1914. Compared to the previous model, with its heavy uncomfortable short stand-up collar clearly shows the line of the fashion designer.
Poiret had style, which has close links to Art Deco, to the end of the First World War was groundbreaking. Then he had to go through the economic decline of his fashion house the field for his ultimate rival, an aspiring fashion designer named Coco Chanel admit. 1930 published his memoirs under the title De l' époque habillant.
Poiret was married to Denise Boulet since 1905 and had five children with her.