Beautifully illustrated, the story of the incandescent French designer and entrepreneur, purveyor of all things lavish. Before Chanel, Dior, or Saint Laurent, there was Paul Poiret. Born in Paris in 1879, he was the most audacious couturier of the prewar era. While his outré styles were worn by some of the most famous celebrities in Europe and America, they were, in fact, the most fleeting facet of his work. Mary E. Davis explores how Poiret’s genius was to place fashion at the center of a network of style, culture, and commerce. He founded groundbreaking perfume and interior design businesses, sponsored musical performances, amassed a modernist art collection, and threw fantastical—and newsworthy—balls. Poiret’s businesses faded by the end of the 1920s, but as this book reveals, his unifying vision set the model for the luxury industry as we know it.
Mary E. Davisis a member of the Capstone Faculty at Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs. Her books include
Classic Chic,
Erik Satie, and
Ballets Russes Style, the last two also published by Reaktion Books.
The runway show as we know it today was shaped by visionary couturier Paul Poiret. Fashion scholar Davis unpacks his enduring influence inPaul Poiret: Inventing Modern Luxury.
"A well-illustrated study of this extraordinary man through several different aspects of his life. . . . His great achievement was to integrate fashion into the wider aspects of culture. . . . In short, he turned himself into a brand."
Davis brings fresh insight to one of fashions most visionary pioneers. . . . This richly researched and elegantly written biography restores him to his rightful place at the centre of cultural history, revealing a designer whose influence extended far beyond the garments he created. Davis charts Poirets rise from his 1879 Parisian birth to his reign as the most daring couturil3½
![Paul Poiret: Inventing Modern Luxury [Hardcover]](/itemImage/2/5/5/0/2_6935152.jpg "Paul Poiret: Inventing Modern Luxury [Hardcover]")