Historic French fashion label Paul Poiret is revived

The historic French fashion label Paul Poiret has been resurrected and will show its first collection in nearly nine decades at Paris fashion week next month, the brand said.

The legendary designer and bon vivant, who with Coco Chanel is credited with liberating women from Victorian era corsets, was the first couturier to launch his own brand of perfume. Backed by the South Korean department store chain Shinsegae, the revived brand is being led by Belgian entrepreneur Anne Chapelle, owner of the Ann Demeulemeester and Haider Ackermann labels. "The house will present its first ready-to-wear autumn-winter collection designed by artistic director Yiqing Yin," the label said. Rising Franco-Chinese creator Yin launched her own couture house in 2011 and was later admitted into the elite haute couture ranks, which is limited to a few dozen brands.

Her designs first hit the headlines when the French actress and "Amelie" star Audrey Tautou wore one of her spectacular white pleated dresses to preside over the awards ceremony at the Cannes film festival in 2013. Yin said that she intended to continue in the Paul Poiret tradition, "liberating women's bodies and spirits". Poiret invented the shirt dress and was famous for using strong colours. A friend of artists Matisse, Pablo Picasso and Raoul Dufy and dancer Isadora Duncan, his brand folded after the Wall Street Crash of 1929. A number of historic French fashion brands have been revived in recent years including Vionnet and Schiaparelli. (AFP)