ProfileDorian Elizabeth Leigh Parker (April 23, 1917 – July 7, 2008), known professionally as Dorian Leigh, was an American model and one of the earliest modeling icons of the fashion industry. She is considered one of the first supermodels, and was well known in the United States and Europe. BiographyDorian Leigh Parker was born in San Antonio, Texas, to George and Elizabeth Parker. Her parents married when they were very young and Elizabeth promptly gave birth to three daughters in quick succession: Dorian, Florian "Cissie" (1918–2010), and Georgiabell (1921–1988). Thirteen years after the birth of her third daughter, Elizabeth believed she was going through menopause and was shocked to discover that she was pregnant. She gave birth to her fourth daughter, Cecilia (1932–2003), who became known as model and actress Suzy Parker. The family moved to Jackson Heights, Queens, soon after Dorian's birth and later to Metuchen, New Jersey where George Parker invented a new form of etching acid, the production of which gave him enough income to retire. Dorian graduated from Newton High School in Queens, New York, in 1935 and enrolled at Randolph-Macon Women's College in Lynchburg, Virginia. At college, she met her first husband, Marshall Powell Hawkins, whom she married on a whim in North Carolina in 1937. They had two children: Thomas Lofton ("TL") Hawkins (1939–2014) and Marsha Hawkins (born 1940). The couple separated in the 1940s. Dorian worked as a file clerk at a department store in Manhattan and as a tabulator, where she found that she had an aptitude for math, mechanical engineering, and drawing. Dorian then worked at Bell Laboratories, and was a tool designer during World War II at Eastern Air Lines (with their Eastern Aircraft division) where she assisted in the design of airplane wings. While working Republic Pictures as an apprentice copywriter, she was encouraged by a Mrs. Wayburn to try modeling. In 1944 Dorian went to the Harry Conover modeling agency. At 27, Dorian was not only old by modeling standards, but at barely 5'5", she was shorter than the other models at the agency. Conover immediately sent her to see Diana Vreeland, the editor of Harper's Bazaar. Dorian met with Vreeland and fashion photographer Louise Dahl-Wolfe, who were intrigued by her zig-zagged eyebrows. Dorian was photographed for the cover of the June 1944 issue of Harper's Bazaar, her very first modeling assignment. Later the magazine was shocked to discover her real age was 27(not 19 as she said), and that she already had two children. Dorian's parents thought modeling was not respectable, so Dorian used only her first and middle name during her career. When Dorian became an enormous success though, they thought it was acceptable that their youngest daughter Suzy use the Parker last name when she also became a famous model. Their other daughter, Florian, also had modeling photos in Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, but quit when she married a man in the military. Dorian instantly became busy with modeling assignments, landing on the covers of major magazines such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Paris Match, LIFE, and Elle. Because of her schedule, Dorian's two children were sent to live with her parents in Florida, while she was based in New York City and traveling to Europe. In 1946, Dorian appeared on the cover of six American Vogue magazines. She worked with famous fashion photographers Irving Penn, John Rawlings, Cecil Beaton, and Paul Radkai. She dated Irving Penn, who later married another model Lisa Fonssagrives. On one assignment of Vogue, Dorian argued with photographer Paul Radkai's wife Karen, who wanted to be a fashion photographer and wanted to take many free extra photos of Dorian for her portfolio. When Dorian refused, Karen warned Dorian she would "ruin her." Indeed, Vogue never used Dorian again, and Karen became a Vogue photographer for many years. Dorian easily transitioned to working with Harper's Bazaar's new, young photographer, Richard Avedon(who would become one of the most famous photographers in history). While living in her apartment in New York, Dorian struck up a friendship with a young author, Truman Capote who was fascinated by Dorian's lifestyle of non-stop men, coming-and-goings, and having a store across the street handle her phone calls, and called her "Happy-go-lucky." Capote's character Holly Golightly in his famous 1958 novel Breakfast at Tiffany's is said to be largely based on Dorian's life, as well as socialite Gloria Vanderbilt's. After being fed up with Harry Conover's agency, Dorian decided to start her own modeling agency called the "Fashion Bureau". She came up with the idea of the "voucher system." With this innovative system, the modeling agency would pay the models weekly, instead of the models' having to wait to be paid directly by the clients. Often it took companies weeks, months, or even years to pay models for their work. Her modelling agency inspired a young fashion stylist named Eileen Ford, who, along with her husband Gerard W. Ford, started what would become one of the most prestigious modeling agencies in the world, Ford Models. Around 1947, Dorian's sister Cissy introduced her to Roger Mehle who was divorced from Aileen Mehle(who later became the very famous gossip columnist known as "Suzy"). Cissy was married to an army officer and Mehle was the youngest Navy commander and fighter ace during WWII. In August 1948, Dorian was two months pregnant when she married Mehle. Dorian's bridemaids were her teen sister Suzy Parker and Suzy's teen model friend Carmen Dell'Orefice. Dorian's two older children, who were being raised by her parents in Florida, came to live with the couple in Pennsylvania. Dorian closed her agency when she married. She then telephoned Eileen Ford and told her that she would join the Ford Agency if they also signed her 15-year-old sister, Suzy Parker, sight-unseen. Suzy, 15 years younger than Dorian, had already been working for the Huntington Hartford agency making $25 per hour. Dorian told Ford she believed Suzy should be making $40 per hour. The Fords' agency was only two years old so they were anxious to represent a famous model like Dorian. The Fords were shocked during their initial meeting to see that Suzy was completely different from her sister Dorian who was thin, had an extremely small waist, and had black hair and bright blue eyes. Suzy was almost six inches taller than Dorian, had a very large frame, and had bright red hair, freckles, and green eyes. (In the 1950s, Suzy would become even more famous than Dorian, and would go on to be a movie and television actress. Dorian gave birth to her daughter, Young Eve Mehle, on March 27, 1949. The couple had a house in Bucks County, Pennsylvania but rarely saw each other. Roger Mehle's naval career stationed him in Atlantic City, and Dorian commuted to New York City and Paris for modeling work. In 1952, when she was 35 years old, Richard Avedon photographed her for Revlon's most famous advertising campaign, Fire and Ice. In this two-page advertisement, Dorian is wearing a very tight, silver sequined gown wrapped in a huge red wrap that was copied from a Balenciaga original. The dress had hand-sewn silver sequins on it, and it took so long to create that only the front of the dress was finished in time to be photographed for the ad. The back was non-existent and held in place with safety pins. Dorian also had a silver streak put in her black hair. The original ad had Dorian holding her hand in front of her breast. The agency considered the photo too risqué, and the ad was re-shot. This ad was accompanied by a provocative quiz written by Kay Daly. The ad became an enormous success, winning Advertising Age's "Magazine Advertisement of the Year" award. That same year, Dorian also played the part of a model in the play The Fifth Season. Her job as model, mother, and actress was featured in Look magazine's June 2, 1953, cover story. By then, Dorian had appeared on the covers of more than 50 magazines. On the Look cover, Dorian is quoted as saying, "I would rather have a baby than a mink coat.". In the 50s, Dorian began to work more often in Europe with Richard Avedon. While in Paris, Dorian met the married Spanish athlete Alfonso Cabeza de Vaca, Marquis of Portago (Alfonso de Portago)nicknamed Fon, who was 11 years younger than her, was married with a three-year-old daughter. Dorian and Fon were both reluctant to divorce their spouses, but carried on an affair all summer in Paris and Biarritz. Dorian became pregnant by him, but chose to have an abortion because she feared Roger Mehle would divorce her and take full-custody of their daughter Young Eve. Only weeks later, at the end of the summer, Fon told Dorian that his wife Carroll was pregnant with their second child. Dorian returned to the United States and divorced Roger Mehle on November 24, 1954, in Mexico. Fon then married Dorian in Mexico right away, but since de Portago was not divorced, the marriage was not legal. Coco Chanel, great friend of her sister Suzy, warned Dorian against the affair, but Dorian continued it with Fon even though his wife Carroll gave birth to their son Anthony de Portago around 1954. When she got pregnant by de Portago again, Dorian left her three other children with her parents in Florida, fled to Paris and Switzerland, and gave birth to her son Kim Blas Parker on September 27, 1955 in Switzerland. After the birth of her baby son Kim, Dorian began the first legal modeling agency in France to support her son. She also had lent about $15,000 to the financially irresponsible de Portago , with whom she continued an on-and-off relationship in 1956 and 1957. In early 1957, De Portago, still married, was also openly dating actress Linda Christian, the ex-wife of actor Tyrone Power. On April 23, 1957, Dorian's 40th birthday, de Portago told Dorian that he was supposedly finally divorcing Carroll so they could be legally married. He told her that he was entering the famous Mille Miglia car race in Italy on May 8, 1957 and Carroll was supposed to sign their divorce papers on May 9. Instead, on May 8, de Portago was seen at the site of car race with Linda Christian who kissed him famously before his race. The same day, Dorian received a phone call from de Portago's mother Olga, informing Dorian that Fon's tire on his Ferrari race car had blown up because he did not stop in time for a tire change. He was killed with his co-driver as well as nine spectators, including five children. This catastrophe ended the Mille Miglia forever. A few days after Alfonso de Portago was killed, Dorian's sister Suzy, making a movie with Cary Grant, told famous gossip columnist Louella Parsons that Dorian had a son with de Portago and she was estranged from her sister because of it. Dorian was shocked that Suzy leaked this secret, Dorian's parents were furious and told Dorian that she would never have custody of her children. They also refused to accept Kim. In 1957, Dorian returned to Florida and visited her daughter Young at her parents’ home. Dorian then took Young and fled to Paris where she remained mostly for the next twenty-one years. The next year In 1958 she became pregnant by another man, had an abortion and married Bordat days later. Although Dorian already had four children by three different men, she wanted another baby. When her husband Bordat claimed he was too young, Dorian moved out of their apartment, but they remained legally married. Dorian was so busy with her Paris modeling agency that she now had branches in Hamburg, Germany, and London to which she often traveled. During a solo ski vacation to Klosters, Switzerland over Christmas 1960, 43-year-old Dorian craved a baby and slept with four men in one week. In September 1961, Dorian gave birth to her fifth child, Miranda, in France. Dorian thought that a young ski instructor at Klosters was the father. Dorian then divorced Bordat but she did not tell her daughter Miranda that Dr. Bordat was not her father until she was a teenager, and despite never meeting her biological father, Miranda kept his last name. In 1964, 47-year-old Dorian met 23-year-old Israeli writer Iddo Ben-Gurion and they were married. But after she discovered Iddo was a drug-addict embezzling money from her modeling agencies, she divorced him in 1966. But she eventually had to close her agencies because so much money was stolen by Iddo. Most of her modeling fortune had been spent recklessly or stolen. Living in Paris, Dorian studied at Le Cordon Bleu and opened her own restaurant, Chez Leigh, from 1973 to 1975. She tried to get cooking jobs in Corsica and Orleans as well. By 1976, Dorian was broke. In 1977, Dorian received a phone call from the New York City modeling agency Stewart Cowley asking her to work as his office manager. Dorian agreed to return to New York where her son Kim was living. Kim's half-brother Anthony de Portago also lived in New York City and the two actually had become good friends. Dorian soon discovered that her 21-year-old son Kim was a serious drug addict, and sent him to live with her sister Suzy in California briefly. Only six months after Dorian re-settled and reunited with Kim in New York, he jumped 33 floors from his apartment window to his death, leaving a suicide note behind. After Kim's death, Dorian lived in Pound Ridge, New York, where she made pâtés for delicatessens and specialty food shops, according to a profile in The New York Times by Enid Nemy. She also worked with Martha Stewart in the early 1980s. Dorian wrote two cookbooks, Pancakes: From Flapjacks to Crepes (1987) and Doughnuts: Over 3 Dozen Crullers, Fritters and Other Treats (1994) at the age of 77. In 1980, Dorian published an autobiography, The Girl Who Had Everything. According to Dorian, she wrote her autobiography for her late son: "I really wrote it for Kim, who will never read it. But perhaps other Kims and their parents may learn from my unhappy experiences". Dorian died in a Falls Church, Virginia nursing home from Alzheimer's disease at the age of 91 on July 7th in 2008. In her obituary, her first son, T.L. Hawkins, reminisced about his mother's famous "Fire and Ice" photograph.
Her only remaining sister Florian Parker died at the age of 92 in 2010.
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Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (22 April [O.S. 10 April] 1899 – 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (Владимир Сирин), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Russia, he wrote his first nine novels in Russian (1926–1938) while living in Berlin. He achieved international acclaim and prominence after moving to the United States and beginning to write in English. Nabokov became an American citizen in 1945, but he and his wife Vera returned to Europe in 1961, settling in Montreux, Switzerland. Nabokov's Lolita (1955) was ranked fourth in the list of the Modern Library 100 Best Novels in 2007; Pale Fire (1962) was ranked 53rd on the same list; and his memoir, Speak, Memory (1951), was listed eighth on publisher Random House's list of the 20th century's greatest nonfiction. He was a seven-time finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction. Nabokov was also an expert lepidopterist and composer of chess problems. He describes the process of composing and constructing in his memoir: "The strain on the mind is formidable; the element of time drops out of one's consciousness". To him, the "originality, invention, conciseness, harmony, complexity, and splendid insincerity" of creating a chess problem was similar to that in any other art. BiographyNabokov was born on 22 April 1899 (10 April 1899 Old Style) in Saint Petersburg to a wealthy and prominent family of the Russian nobility. His family traced its roots to the 14th-century Tatar prince Nabok Murza, who entered into the service of the Tsars, and from whom the family name is derived. His father was Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov (1870–1922), a liberal lawyer, statesman, and journalist, and his mother was the heiress Yelena Ivanovna née Rukavishnikova, the granddaughter of a millionaire gold-mine owner. His father was a leader of the pre-Revolutionary liberal Constitutional Democratic Party, and wrote numerous books and articles about criminal law and politics. His cousins included the composer Nicolas Nabokov. His paternal grandfather, Dmitry Nabokov (1827–1904), was Russia's Justice Minister during the reign of Alexander II. His paternal grandmother was the Baltic German Baroness Maria von Korff (1842–1926). Through his father's German ancestry, Nabokov was related to the composer Carl Heinrich Graun (1704–1759). Vladimir was the family's eldest and favorite child, with four younger siblings: Sergey (1900–45), Olga (1903–78), Elena (1906–2000), and Kirill (1912–64). Sergey was killed in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945 after publicly denouncing Hitler's regime. Elena, who in later years became Vladimir's favorite sibling, published her correspondence with him in 1985. She was an important source for later biographers of Nabokov. Nabokov spent his childhood and youth in Saint Petersburg and at the country estate Vyra near Siverskaya, south of the city. His childhood, which he called "perfect" and "cosmopolitan", was remarkable in several ways. The family spoke Russian, English, and French in their household, and Nabokov was trilingual from an early age. He related that the first English book his mother read to him was Misunderstood (1869) by Florence Montgomery. Much to his patriotic father's disappointment, Nabokov could read and write in English before he could in Russian. In his memoir Speak, Memory, Nabokov recalls numerous details of his privileged childhood. His ability to recall in vivid detail memories of his past was a boon to him during his permanent exile, providing a theme that runs from his first book Mary to later works such as Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle. While the family was nominally Orthodox, it had little religious fervor. Vladimir was not forced to attend church after he lost interest. Nabokov's adolescence was the period in which he made his first serious literary endeavors. In 1916, he published his first book, Stikhi ("Poems"), a collection of 68 Russian poems. That same year, Nabokov inherited the estate Rozhdestveno, next to Vyra, from his uncle Vasily Ivanovich Rukavishnikov. He lost it in the October Revolution one year later; this was the only house he ever owned. After the 1917 February Revolution, Nabokov's father became a secretary of the Russian Provisional Government in Saint Petersburg. After the October Revolution, the family was forced to flee the city for Crimea, where Nabokov's father became a minister of justice in the Crimean Regional Government. After the withdrawal of the German Army in November 1918 and the defeat of the White Army (early 1919), the Nabokovs sought exile in western Europe, along with many other Russian refugees. They settled briefly in England, where Vladimir enrolled in Trinity College of the University of Cambridge, first studying zoology, then Slavic and Romance languages. Nabokov later drew on his Cambridge experiences to write several works, including the novels Glory and The Real Life of Sebastian Knight. In 1920, Nabokov's family moved to Berlin, where his father set up the émigré newspaper Rul' ("Rudder"). Nabokov followed them to Berlin two years later, after completing his studies at Cambridge. In March 1922, Nabokov's father was fatally shot in Berlin by Russian some monarchists as he was trying to shield the real target, Pavel Milyukov, a leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party-in-exile. Nabokov featured this mistaken, violent death repeatedly in his fiction, where characters would meet their deaths under accidental terms. Shortly after his father's death, Nabokov's mother and sister moved to Prague. Nabokov stayed in Berlin. He wrote and published under the nom de plume V. Sirin (a reference to the fabulous bird of Russian folklore). To supplement his scant writing income, he taught languages and gave tennis and boxing lessons. In May 1923, he met Véra Evseyevna Slonim, a Russian-Jewish woman, at a charity ball in Berlin. They married in April 1925. Their only child, Dmitri, was born in 1934. In 1937, he left Germany for France, where his family followed him, finally settling in Paris which also had a Russian émigré community. In May 1940, the Nabokovs fled the advancing German troops, reaching the United States via the SS Champlain. Nabokov's brother Sergei did not leave France, and he died at the Neuengamme concentration camp on 9 January 1945. The Nabokovs settled in Manhattan and Vladimir began volunteer work as an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History. Nabokov's interest in entomology had been inspired by books of Maria Sibylla Merian he had found in the attic of his family's country home in Vyra. Throughout an extensive career of collecting he never learned to drive a car, and he depended on his wife Véra to take him to collecting sites. During the 1940s, as a research fellow in zoology, he was responsible for organizing the butterfly collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. Nabokov joined the staff of Wellesley College in 1941 as resident lecturer in comparative literature. The position, created specifically for him, provided an income and free time to write creatively and pursue his lepidoptery. Nabokov is remembered as the founder of Wellesley's Russian Department. In September 1942 they moved to Cambridge, where they lived until June 1948. Following a lecture tour through the United States, Nabokov returned to Wellesley for the 1944–45 academic year as a lecturer in Russian. In 1945, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He served through the 1947–48 term as Wellesley's one-man Russian Department, offering courses in Russian language and literature. After being encouraged by Morris Bishop, Nabokov left Wellesley in 1948 to teach Russian and European literature at Cornell University, where he taught until 1959. Nabokov's lectures at Cornell University, as collected in Lectures on Literature, reveal his controversial ideas concerning art. He firmly believed that novels should not aim to teach and that readers should not merely empathize with characters but that a 'higher' aesthetic enjoyment should be attained, partly by paying great attention to details of style and structure. He detested what he saw as 'general ideas' in novels, and so when teaching Ulysses, for example, he would insist students keep an eye on where the characters were in Dublin (with the aid of a map) rather than teaching the complex Irish history that many critics see as being essential to an understanding of the novel. Nabokov wrote Lolita while travelling on the butterfly-collection trips in the western United States that he undertook every summer. Véra acted as "secretary, typist, editor, proofreader, translator and bibliographer; his agent, business manager, legal counsel and chauffeur; his research assistant, teaching assistant and professorial understudy"; He called her the best-humored woman he had ever known. When Nabokov attempted to burn unfinished drafts of Lolita, Véra stopped him. In June 1953 Nabokov and his family went to Ashland, Oregon. There he finished Lolita and began writing the novel Pnin. After the great financial success of Lolita, Nabokov returned to Europe and devoted himself to writing. In 1961 he and Véra moved to the Montreux Palace Hotel in Montreux, Switzerland; he stayed there until the end of his life. From his sixth-floor quarters he conducted his business and took tours to the Alps, Corsica, and Sicily to hunt butterflies. He died on 2 July 1977 in Montreux. His remains were cremated and buried at the Clarens cemetery in Montreux. At the time of his death, he was working on a novel titled The Original of Laura. Véra and Dmitri, who were entrusted with Nabokov's literary executorship, ignored Nabokov's request to burn the incomplete manuscript and published it in 2009.
Paul Poiret (20 April 1879 – 30 April 1944, Paris, France)was a leading French fashion designer, a master couturier during the first two decades of the 20th century. He was the founder of his namesake haute couture house. His contributions to his field have been likened to Picasso's legacy in 20th-century art. Alexandre Paul Poiret né à Paris le 20 avril 1879 et mort dans la même ville le 30 avril 1944 est un grand couturier et parfumeur français. Connu pour ses audaces, il est considéré comme un précurseur du style Art déco. Il crée la maison de couture qui porte son nom en 1903. BiographyPaul Poiret was born on 20 April 1879 to a cloth merchant in the poor neighborhood of Les Halles, Paris. His older sister, Jeanne, would later become a jewelry designer. Poiret's parents, in an effort to rid him of his natural pride, apprenticed him to an umbrella maker. There, he collected scraps of silk left over from the cutting of umbrella patterns, and fashioned clothes for a doll that one of his sisters had given him. While a teenager, Poiret took his sketches to Louise Chéruit, a prominent dressmaker, who purchased a dozen from him. Poiret continued to sell his drawings to major Parisian couture houses, until he was hired by Jacques Doucet in 1898. His first design, a red cloth cape, sold 400 copies. He became famous after designing a black mantle of tulle over a black taffeta, painted by the famous fan painter Billotey. The actress Réjane used it in a play called Zaza, the stage then becoming a typical strategy of Poiret's marketing practices. In 1901, Poiret moved to the House of Worth, where he was responsible for designing simple, practical dresses, called "fried potatoes" by Gaston Worth because they were considered side dishes to Worth's main course of "truffles". The "brazen modernity of his designs," however, proved too much for Worth's conservative clientele. When Poiret presented the Russian Princess Bariatinsky with a Confucius coat with an innovative kimono-like cut, for instance, she exclaimed, "What a horror! When there are low fellows who run after our sledges and annoy us, we have their heads cut off, and we put them in sacks just like that." This reaction prompted Poiret to fund his own maison. Poiret established his own house in 1903. In his first years as an independent couturier, he broke with established conventions of dressmaking and subverted other ones. In 1903, he dismissed the petticoat, and later, in 1906, he did the same with the corset. Poiret made his name with his controversial kimono coat and similar, loose-fitting designs created specifically for an uncorseted, slim figure. Poiret designed flamboyant window displays and threw sensational parties to draw attention to his work. His instinct for marketing and branding was unmatched by any other Parisian designer, although the pioneering fashion shows of the British-based Lucile (Lady Duff Gordon) had already attracted tremendous publicity. In 1909, he was so famous, Margot Asquith, wife of British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, invited him to show his designs at 10 Downing Street. The cheapest garment at the exhibition was 30 guineas, double the annual salary of a scullery maid. Poiret's house expanded to encompass interior decoration and fragrance. In 1911, he introduced "Parfums de Rosine," named after his daughter, becoming the first French couturier to launch a signature fragrance, although again the London designer Lucile had preceded him with a range of in-house perfumes as early as 1907. In 1911 Poiret unveiled "Parfums de Rosine" with a flamboyant soiree held at his palatial home, attended by the cream of Parisian society and the artistic world. Poiret fancifully christened the event "la mille et deuxième nuit" (The Thousand and Second Night), inspired by the tales of the One Thousand and One Nights. His gardens were illuminated by lanterns, set with tents, and live, tropical birds. Poiret dressed as a Sultan bearing a whip, and Madame Poiret luxuriated in a golden cage. Poiret encouraged guests to dress in Orientalist styles, including harem pants and "lampshade" tunics similar to the one worn by his wife. Poiret the reigning sultan gifted each guest with a bottle of his new fragrance creation, appropriately named to befit the occasion, "Nuit Persane." His marketing strategy, played out as entertainment, became the talk of Paris. A second scent debuted in 1912 – "Le Minaret," again emphasizing the harem theme. Again in 1911, publisher Lucien Vogel dared photographer Edward Steichen to promote fashion as a fine art in his work. Steichen responded by snapping photos of gowns designed by Poiret, hauntingly backlit and shot at inventive angles. These were published in the April 1911 issue of the magazine Art et Décoration. According to historian Jesse Alexander, the occasion is "now considered to be the first ever modern fashion photography shoot," in which garments were imaged as much for their artistic quality as their formal appearance. A year later, Vogel began his renowned fashion journal La Gazette du Bon Ton, which showcased Poiret's designs, drawn by top illustrators, along with six other leading Paris designers – Louise Chéruit, Georges Doeuillet, Jacques Doucet, Jeanne Paquin, Redfern, and the House of Worth. However, notable couture names were missing from this brilliant assemblage, including such major tastemakers as Lucile, Jeanne Lanvin and the Callot Soeurs. Also in 1911, Poiret launched the École Martine, a home decor division of his design house, named for his second daughter. The establishment provided artistically inclined, working-class girls with trade skills and income. That same year Poiret leased part of the property at 109 Rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré to his friend Henri Barbazanges, who opened the Galerie Barbazanges to exhibit contemporary art. The building was beside Poiret's 18th century mansion at 26 Avenue d'Antin. Poiret reserved the right to hold two exhibitions each year. Artists included Pablo Picasso, who showed Les Demoiselles d'Avignon for the first time, Amedeo Modigliani, Moïse Kisling, Manuel Ortiz de Zárate and Marie Vassilieff. Poiret also arranged concerts of new music at the gallery, often in combination with exhibitions of new art. The 1916 Salon d'Antin included readings of poetry by Max Jacob and Guillaume Apollinaire, and performances of work by Erik Satie, Darius Milhaud, Igor Stravinsky and Georges Auric. Early in World War I, Poiret left his fashion house to serve the military. When he returned in 1919, the business was on the brink of bankruptcy. New designers like Coco Chanel were producing simple, sleek clothes that relied on excellent workmanship. In comparison, Poiret's elaborate designs seemed dowdy and poorly manufactured. (Though Poiret's designs were groundbreaking, his construction was not – he aimed only for his dresses to "read beautifully from afar.") In 1922, he was invited to New York to design costumes and dresses for Broadway stars. He took his top designer (France Martano) and an entourage with him, enjoying the elegant life at sea. New York City, however, was not home and he soon returned to Paris leaving his top designer there in his stead. Back in Paris, Poiret was increasingly unpopular, in debt, and lacking support from his business partners. He soon left the fashion empire he had established. In 1929, the house was closed, its leftover stock sold by the kilogram as rags. When Poiret died in 1944, his genius had been forgotten. His road to poverty led him to odd jobs, including work as a street painter, selling drawings to customers of Paris cafes. At one time, the 'Chambre syndicale de la Haute Couture' discussed providing a monthly allowance to aid Poiret, an idea rejected by Worth, at that time president of the group. Only his friend and one of his right hand-designers from his pre-WWI era, France Martano (married name: Benureau), helped him in his era of poverty, when most of Parisian society had forgotten him. At the end of his life, he dined regularly in her family's Paris apartment and she ensured he was not wanting for food. His friend Elsa Schiaparelli prevented his name from encountering complete oblivion, and it was Schiaparelli who paid for his burial. Paul Poiret's major contribution to fashion was his technique of draping fabric, an alternative to the more popular tailoring and use of patterns. Poiret was influenced by both antique and regional dress, and favoured clothing cut along straight lines and decorated with rectangular motifs. The structural simplicity of his clothing represented a "pivotal moment in the emergence of modernism" generally, and "effectively established the paradigm of modern fashion, irrevocably changing the direction of costume history. Poiret is associated with the decline of corsetry in women's fashion and the invention of the hobble skirt. He once boasted "yes, I freed the bust, but I shackled the legs." Poiret was not the only one responsible for the change in women's supportive garments, however, and the diminished role of corsetry was a result of various factors. Poiret is often described as an Orientalist, and his creations often drew inspiration from various Eastern styles which were at odds with other fashionable Edwardian modes. BiographieFils d'Auguste Poiret (vers 1840-1903), marchand-drapier aux blés des Halles centrales, et de Louise Heinrich, son épouse, Paul Poiret est le second enfant et le seul garçon d'une fratrie de quatre enfants. Il a trois sœurs. L'aînée, Jeanne (1871-1959) épousera le bijoutier René Boivin (1864-1917) ; la cadette, Germaine (1885-1971), modiste et artiste peintre, s'unira à un certain Bongard et tiendra de 1911 à 1925 au 5, rue de Penthièvre à Paris une maison de couture connue sous le nom de Jove, dans laquelle elle exposera des œuvres d'artistes de l'École de Paris ; la benjamine, Nicole (1887-1967) donnera à son époux, l'ébéniste André Groult (1884-1967) deux enfants : Benoîte Groult et Flora Groult. Paul Poiret épouse le 5 octobre 1905 à Paris Denise Boulet (1886-1982). Le couple aura cinq enfants : Rosine (née en 1906), Perrine (vers 1910), Martine (1911) , Colin (1912) et Gaspard (vers 1913). Paul Poiret est embauché comme dessinateur de mode chez Doucet en 1898, puis travaille chez Worth de 1901 à 1903. Il ouvre sa maison de couture en septembre 1903 et habille Réjane, ce qui le lance. Il est le premier couturier, avec Madeleine Vionnet, à supprimer le corset en 1906, en créant des robes taille haute. Il devient ainsi un pionnier de l'émancipation féminine. En 1908, il confie à Paul Iribe de dessin du catalogue Les Robes de Paul Poiret racontées par Paul Iribe. Le caractère novateur de l'ouvrage lui confère un grand succès. En 1909, il fait l'acquisition de l'ancien hôtel du Gouverneur des pages (xviiie siècle), 107, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, dont le jardin s'étend jusqu'à une grille de clôture à hauteur du 26, avenue d'Antin. Il confie l'aménagement de cet hôtel particulier en lieu de vie pour lui et sa famille, en lieu de travail et en siège pour sa maison de couture à l'architecte et décorateur ensemblier Louis Süe(1875-1968) qui opte pour le style néo-Louis XVI. En 1910, l'orientalisme est à la mode. Les ballets russes et Léon Bakst triomphent à Paris. Poiret suit la tendance. Il achète les tissus colorés du Wiener Werkstätte à Vienne avec qui il entame une longue collaboration. Le 24 juin 1911 Poiret donne la somptueuse fête costumée persane sur le thème La mille & deuxième nuit, à laquelle sont conviés 300 invités, essentiellement des artistes. La maison est fermée de tapisseries pour l'évènement qui fera date. Le premier salon est aménagé en « cour sablée où, sous un vélum bleu essor, des fontaines jaillissaient dans des vasques en porcelaines ». De nombreuses personnalités sont présentées, comme les peintres Luc-Albert Moreau et Guy-Pierre Fauconnet, l'actrice Régina Badet ou la princesse Murat, alors que le tragédien Édouard de Max conte Les Sept Vizirs. Cette même année, Poiret lance Les Parfums de Rosine — du prénom de sa première fille — et devient le premier à imaginer le « parfum de couturier » qu'il conçoit en harmonie avec ses créations. Il ouvre un laboratoire au 39, rue du Colisée et une usine à Courbevoie incluant un atelier de verrerie et de cartonnerie pour le conditionnement. Les premières compositions sont imaginées par Maurice Schaller puis par Henri Alméras, mais Poiret s'implique personnellement. Jusqu'en 1929, ce sont 35 parfums qui sortent des usines, dont certains adoptent des noms singuliers comme Shakhyamuni (1913) ou Hahna l’Étrange Fleur (1919). Toujours en 1911, il se diversifie dans les broderies et les imprimés avec les Ateliers de Martine — du prénom de sa deuxième fille —. Georges Lepape collabore à l'album Les Choses de Paul Poiret pour présenter ses robes. Il fait aussi appel à d'autres artistes peintres comme Raoul Dufy, Mario Simon, André Marty, etc. En 1911, pendant son voyage en Russie, Poiret s'installe chez son amie et grande couturière russe Nadejda Lamanova dans son atelier au boulevard Tverskoï (Moscou) et donne trois défilés de mode. Entre 1911 et 1917, il loue et restaure le pavillon du Butard à La Celle-Saint-Cloud et l'utilise comme résidence estivale et écrin de grandes fêtes, dont celle restée célèbre en date du 20 juin 1912 — « Festes de Bacchus » — à l'occasion de laquelle il crée un costume de bacchante : robe en mousseline de soie imprimée et un « châle Knossos » de Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, portés par Denise Poiret. Isadora Duncan danse sur les tables au milieu de 300 invités et 900 bouteilles de champagne furent consommées jusqu'aux premières lueurs du jour. Antérieurement, il avait fait construire à l'Île-Tudy la villa Kermaria où il organisa aussi des fêtes somptueuses ; les peintres Bernard Naudin et Raoul Dufy par exemple y séjournèrent, ainsi que le poète Max Jacob. Il fait partie du cercle des Mortigny, fondé par Dimitri d'Osnobichine, qui regroupe de nombreux artistes et habitués de la vie parisienne, cercle qui fonctionne jusque dans les années 1950. Poiret connaît le triomphe : il habille les comédiennes les plus en vue ; c'est lui qui gaine de soie la première vamp de l'histoire, Irma Vep, interprétée par Musidora sous la direction de Louis Feuillade. Il habille également le Tout-Paris, aidé par sa femme Denise qui se fait ambassadrice de la marque. Il s'inspire de ses nombreux voyages pour créer des vêtements marqués par l'Orient, la Russie, l'Afrique du Nord. En collaboration avec le peintre Raoul Dufy, il lance des imprimés audacieux. Plus tard, il crée la jupe-culotte et la jupe entravée, qui font scandale. On lui doit la coupe du pantalon bleu horizon porté par les poilus à partir de fin 1916. Après la Première Guerre mondiale, son étoile commence à pâlir. La clientèle le délaisse pour un style plus épuré. La Maison Paul Poiret connaît ses premières difficultés financières en 1923, mais poursuit ses activités grâce au soutien financier de Georges Aubert. En 1921-1923 il fait construire à Mézy-sur-Seine (Yvelines) la villa Paul Poiret, dessinée par Robert Mallet-Stevens, dont la construction est interrompue par les difficultés financières du couturier en 1923, et qui ne sera terminée qu'en 1932 par Elvire Popesco, qui l'avait rachetée deux ans auparavant. Il possédait également la villa Casablanca à Biarritz, construite en 1922 par Guillaume Tronchet et rachetée ensuite par Jean Patou. Il possédait également la villa Treizaine à Gassin, sur la route de Saint-Tropez, où il peint. Sa participation à l'Exposition internationale des Arts décoratifs et industriels modernes en 1925 est très remarquée : il présente ses collections sur trois péniches baptisées Délices, Amours et Orgues. En 1927, il joue avec Colette dans sa pièce La Vagabonde.
En 1928, Paul Poiret publie Pan, Annuaire du luxe à Paris, aux Éditions Devambez, très bel annuaire qui réunit presque tous les grands noms du commerce de luxe de l'époque. Publié et conçu par lui, il est illustré de 116 planches en noir et en couleurs par les plus grands artistes contemporains. Cet album offre un panorama important sur la publicité des années 1920 : tailleurs, chapeliers, cannes, bottiers, couturiers, lingerie, fourrures, bijoux, la table, orfèvrerie, primeurs, vins, fleurs, galeries d'exposition, photographes, pharmaciens, restaurants, hôtels, cabarets, voyages, sports, bagages, plages, chevaux, chasse, pêche, etc. Fin novembre 1929, la maison Paul Poiret ferme, du fait de la crise économique. les Parfums de Rosine sont rachetés par Oriza L. Legrand. En 1930 il publie En habillant l'époque et invente la gaine, souple et confortable. Il publie trois livres de mémoires et meurt en partie ruiné et oublié en 1944. Il repose désormais au cimetière de Montmartre à Paris. Sa marque commerciale est un turban très enveloppant orné d'une aigrette, que son épouse rend célèbre. |
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