We are continuing on with my V&A Fashion Perspectives reviews! I would be curious to know how the V&A chose the designers to feature for this series (in paperback), as they really vary. Paul Poiret’s career took place far before the other designers, and so it sticks out a bit. As he is a designer that I am less familiar with I was hoping to learn a lot from this book. Today I’m going to be sharing my King of Fashion review with you, and whether or not I think it is a good fashion history choice!
King of Fashion: The Autobiography of Paul Poiret, Paul Poiret
Paul Poiret (1879–1944) led the fashion world in the first decades of the 20th century. His autobiography tells the story of the meteoric rise of a draper’s son to the “King of Fashion.” From his humble Parisian childhood, to his debut as a couturier, to his experiences during World War I, Poiret reveals all in this captivating tale, first published in 1931. His artistic flair, coupled with his remarkable and highly original cutting skills, enabled him to translate the spirit of Art Deco into revolutionary garments, and his memoirs bring this astonishing period to life. An astute businessman, Poiret describes the expansion of his fashion empire to encompass interior decor and the first designer perfume and evocatively recounts his extravagant parties, where guests paraded in his latest creations.
Why You Should Read King of Fashion…
I’ll be honest- I’m not sure that you should. Overall, the Fashion Perspectives series is fantastic at giving you insight into the personality of a designer, their design process, sometimes even the business side of fashion. However, King of Fashion doesn’t really give anything other than Paul Poiret’s personality.
He is a designer that I know relatively little about, aside from my research for his Style History post (you can find that here!). My interest picks up around the 1930s/1940s, and Poiret is from the generation prior of designers. That being said, I was excited to read this to learn more and give myself more of an understanding of him.
King of Fashion was originally written in 1931. By this point, Poiret was rather a nobody in Paris fashion. His business had flourished in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and that is where we spend the majority of the book. Prior to the First World War, fashionable society was extravagant and elaborate, and we do get a good sense of that. Poiret describes the parties and events that he planned with entire (temporary) palaces built, housing troops of dancers and models, and the most exotic food imaginable. It gives you the context for his reign over fashion.
Poiret is incredibly concerned with name-dropping in the book. That can be a useful tool for those studying him, but given that I don’t know anything about Paris society in this period (other than the ballet), it was rather fruitless. He references several people that I don’t recognise at all, and it doesn’t help explain anything about him. I can understand exactly why he did this- by 1931, he was far past his prime, and he wanted to remember the good and successful times. In terms of fashion history, I think that there are better books to focus on.
V&A Fashion Perspectives Reviews
If you are looking for my other reviews for the series, you can find them here:
Silver and Gold by Norman Hartnell
Dior by Dior by Christian Dior
From A to Biba by Barbara Hulanicki
When I finish up in May with Shocking Life, the autobiography of Elsa Schiaparelli, I will do an overview of the whole series. I do plan on reading some of the other books in the series (solely published as ebooks), but I’m still debating whether or not I will keep adding their reviews. (Let me know if you would like to see those!)
If you have read King of Fashion by Paul Poiret, what do you think of it? Do you know much about Poiret?
Cheers,
The Historian
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