Paul Poiret (1879–1944)

The Fashion World

Known as the creator of modern clothing and shapes, Paul Poiret greatly influenced ladies fashion in the Edwardian Era. His designs were inspired by Classicism, Orientalism and Art Nouveau and ‘freed’ women from the constriction of corsets.

Paul Poiret was born on 20th April, 1879, to a cloth merchant in the poor neighbourhood of Les Halles, Paris. He was apprenticed to an umbrella maker where he collected scraps of silk leftover from the cutting of umbrella patterns, and he would fashion clothes for a doll that one of his sisters had given him. As a teenager, Paul took his sketches to Louise Cheruit (a prominent dressmaker) who purchased a dozen from him. Paul continued to sell his sketches to some of the major Parisian Couture Houses until he was eventually hired by Jacques Doucet in 1898.

His first design sold 400 copies — it was a red cloth cape. After designing a black mantle of tulle over a black taffeta, Paul became famous, especially when it was worn by the actress Rejane in the play “Zaza”. Using the stage as a runway was a typical strategy of Poiret’s marketing practices, which enabled him to present his most ‘avant-garde’ creations. “All the sadness of a romantic denouement (the outcome of a play), all the bitterness of a fourth act, were in this so-expressive cloak, and when they saw it appear, the audience foresaw the end of the play — Thenceforth, I was established, chez Doucet and in all of Paris”. (Poiret’s quote). In 1900, Paul left Doucet to do his military service, which was a…