The Unsung Hero of 20th Century Fashion.

Paul Poiret was a leading French fashion designer and a master couturier during the first two decades of the 20th century. He was born on the 20th of April in 1879 to parents that were cloth merchants in a very poor neighbourhood in Paris called les Halles. When Poiret was a teenager his parents apprenticed him to an umbrella maker to rid Poiret of the village's reputation. During his time spent as an apprentice, Poiret collected scraps of silk to make clothes for a doll that was given to him by his sisters. As well as this he often drew sketches of clothing designs in his spare time and would take them to Louise Cheruit (a dressmaker), who purchased twelve of them. Poiret continued to sell his drawings to major Parisian couture houses until he was hired by Jacques Doucet in 1898. His first design of a red cloth cape sold 400 copies and later after designing a black mantle of tulle over a black taffeta Poiret became well known. The actress Rejane used it in the play "Zaza", the stage became a typical strategy of Poiret's marketing practices.

In 1901 Poiret moved to the House of Worth, where he was responsible for designing practical dresses. Two years later in September, Poiret established his own couture house. Poiret broke in established conventions of dressmaking and subverted other techniques. For example, he dismissed the petticoat in 1903 and in 1906 Poiret did the same with the corset. However, Poiret made his name when he designed a controversial kimono coat, not to mention when he also used loose fittings in his designs to create a slim figure. To further this in opposition to the Edwardian structure, Poiret took unstructured lengths of fabric and wrapped it around the body. As well as this Poiret designed flamboyant window displays and threw many parties to draw attention to his work, as the designer was influenced by the orientalism of the 1910s.

In 1911 the couture house expanded to include interior decorations and fragrance. Poiret introduced "parfums de rosine", making Poiret the first French couturier to launch a signature fragrance. As well as this Poiret opened Ecole Martine, a home decor division of his design house. This new division provided working class girls with trade skills and income. Lucien Vogel (a publisher) dared photographer Edward Steichen in 1911 to promote fashion as a fine art in his work. Steichen took photos of gowns designed by Poiret, the photos were backlit and used inventive angles. The photos were then published in the April 1911 issue of the magazine "Art et Decoration". This photoshoot is considered to be the first ever modern fashion photography shoot in which garments were imaged for their artistic quality as well as for their formal appearance.

Although, Poiret is often forgotten about when it comes to the history of the modern fashion show. In 1914 Poiret introduced the designer tour which has led to the infamous trunk shows that are held today. He set out to Europe with just nine models, to promote his designs and the name of his couture house. Poiret became the first couturier to travel with models to showcase his new designs.

Poiret is well known for developing the dressmaking technique known as draping. He was influenced by antique and regional dress and favoured clothing that was cut along straight lines and was constructed of regular motifs. The structured simplicity of his clothing represented "a pivotal moment in the emergence of modernism" as he "changed the direction of costume history".

However, in WWI Poiret left his fashion house to serve for the military. He returned in 1919 although his business was on the brink of bankruptcy. Poiret's designs at the time seemed poorly manufactured in comparison to Chanel's sleek clothes. Therefore, in 1929 the couture house closed. In 1944 Poiret passed away and his legacy has sadly been forgotten by many.

Sources: Paul Poiret by Colin McDowell, August 21st 2015 The Business of Fashion.

Image Sources : Cover Image - Getty May 15th 1930, 2nd image - Paul Poiret courtesy of Kunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.