April 22, 2007
Style
Hip Hip, Poiret
By ALIX BROWNE; Photographs by LUCIANA VAL and FRANCO MUSSO
“The fashion of tomorrow has always seemed to me more lovely than the fashion of today,” wrote Paul Poiret in his 1931 autobiography, “King of Fashion.” By then, the designer’s illustrious reign had all but faded (he died in 1944 penniless and appropriately bitter), but his heyday in Paris before the First World War would guarantee his legacy. In the simplest of terms, he was a draper rather than a tailor, credited with liberating fashion from an exaggerated corseted silhouette that made a woman look like an hourglass — or as he put it, as if she were “hauling a trailer.” He was also the father of a certain opium-den chic, prone to heady metallic embroideries and the color red, an Oriental streak that was probably attributable to his belief that in a previous life he was an Oriental prince. Now the king is back.
A Poiret retrospective opens at the
Costume Institute at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 9, an event already much anticipated in the fall collections, where his influence was apparent on everyone from Proenza Schouler to Prada. (The clothes on these pages will be hitting the sales floor right about when the show closes on Aug. 5.) All the attention would not have been lost on Poiret, who made little distinction between designer and despot. “He must follow out his idea, cost what it may,” he wrote of himself in the third person. “He will not be followed the first year, but he will be copied the next.” And the next.
Oscar de la Renta embroidered coat with chinchilla trim, $16,800. At Bergdorf Goodman. Philip Treacy cloche.
Lanvin satin dress, $3,198. At Barneys New York. Eugenia Kim cloche. Jade-and-gold earrings from Fred Leighton.
Proenza Schouler beaded and embroidered dress with maribou trim, showpiece only, cloche and boots. Carolina Amato opera-length gloves.
Yves Saint Laurent cloqué-lurex dress, $2,920. At Yves Saint Laurent stores. Antique cuffs from Fred Leighton.
Givenchy astrakhan-and-fox-fur coat, $15,580. At Barneys New York. Donna Karan Collection embroidered skirt, $4,000. At Donna Karan stores. Philip Treacy for Donna Karan Collection feather hat. Bally spectator pumps.
John Galliano velvet dress, about $12,400. At Bergdorf Goodman. Saks Fifth Avenue. Paul Poiret vintage evening coat (1910) and vintage headpiece (1920s), both price upon request, from Mark Walsh Leslie Chin, (914) 963-1694. Lanvin Mary-Janes.
Thakoon sequined drop-waist dress, $5,095. At Bergdorf Goodman. Wolford fishnet stockings.
Fashion associate: Melissa Ventosa Mar tin. Prop styling by George Xenos at Marek and Associates. Hair by Dennis Lanni for Bumble and bumble. Makeup by Frank B. at the Wall Group. Manicure by Roseann Singleton for Ar t Depar tment. Model: Tayla Collins.