Fashion Quote:
Paul Poiret
- “The ultimate trick is to appear natural. But sublimely natural”
- “I freed the bust and I shackled the legs”
Written by Andrew Sia
Illustrated by Elita Lam
Paul Poiret was a leading French fashion designer during the first two decades of the twentieth century. He founded his haute couture house.
Paul was born on April 20, 1879 and his work can be viewed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is known for haute couture and also perfumery. He was the most fashionable dress designer of pre-World War 1 and he was particularly known for his Neoclassical and Orientalist styles.
He advocated the corset with the brassieres and introduced the hobble skirt, His famous quote was, “I freed the bust and I shackled the legs”.
He served as the designer in the house of Parisian fashion designer Charles Frederick Worth, House of Worth, a pioneer Fashion designer who left London in 1845 and went to Paris to become one of the founders of Parisian haute couture.
What went on over there in the House of Worth became theatrical as he was told to design simple but practical dresses, considered as “side dishes of fried potatoes” to Worth’s “main course of truffles”. But his modernity design hit the nerve of Worth’s conservative clientele, the Russian Princess Bariatinsky, who went berserk when he presented a Confucius coat with an innovative kimono-like cut. 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”.
That prompted Paul Poiret to open his small shop in Paris in 1903 and had been instrumental in reviving the Empire style—popular in France during the reign of Napoleon I.
Being influenced by the Eastern art and Russian ballet, he created flamboyant theatrical designs and his evening gowns, turbans, and harem pants appeared in brilliant colors of purple, red, orange, green and blue. He was gifted with marketing and branding and it was unmatched by any other Parisian designers.
Poiret’s house expanded into fragrance and in 1911 he introduced “Parfums de Rosine”, named after her daughter and became the first French couturier to launch a signature fragrance. He unveiled “Parfums de Rosaine” with a flamboyant soiree held at his mansion attended by the high society and inspired by the artistic world. Also in 1911 he leased part of his house to his friend Henri Barbazanges who opened the Galerie Barbazanges to exhibit contemporary art. It was in 1916 when Pablo Picasso showed Les Demoiselles d”Avignon for the first time. Poirot also arranged concerts of new music at the gallery, often in combination with exhibitions of new art.