Paul Poiret

The famous French designer Paul Poiret not only liberated women from the corset but he was the first to integrate his dress-designing business with perfume and interior design.

His innovative designs included hobble skirts, pataloons and lampshade tunics, but he also concentrated on draping. He created comfortable, free-flowing clothes. His exotic and luxurious fabric designs had Morroccan and Byzantine influences. His wife, Denise, with whom he had five children, was his muse. He said that she was "...the inspiration for all my creations..."

His perfume and interior design businesses were named after his daughters, Rosine and Martine. Although vintage perfume bottles from The Perfumes of Rosine are still available, the perfumes are not. However, a new business with the same name was recently started as a tribute to the great designer.

Packaging and marketing were almost as important to Poiret as his products and he collaborated with such famous artists as Iribe and Lepape.

Unfortunately Poiret's businesses fell out of fashion after the First World War when people began to admire the classic, figure-hugging styles of Chanel. Forced to sell, the great designer, who loved to hold lavish parties and spend a lot of money, ended his life in poverty.

You can see some of his designs at the website of the Paul Poiret: King of Fashion exhibition here:

I will be including more links soon.Poiret Exhibition