Paul Poiret

At the turn of this century, Paul Poiret brought about a revolution in fashion design. His bold use of simple classical line created an elegance and freedom of movement reminiscent of the "empire" line of the late eighteenth-century and the new styles of art - art nouveau, fauvism, art deco and orientalism - inspired the vibrant colours and exotic fabrics of Poiret's work. Commissioning Paul Iribe and Georges Lepape and other great artists to illustrate his creations, Poiret both revived the fashion illustration of the day and attracted an international following. The author shows why Poiret was one of the first designers to relate fashion to other decorative arts: individual chapters cover his neo-classical and oriental periods, the founding of the Martine School of Decorative Arts and his celebrated collaboration with the artist Raoul Dufy in textile design.