textilesandtrinkets: Paul Iribe

Paul Iribe (1883-1935, French) was a man of many talents- illustrator, journalist and designer in several mediums. Today I am just going to focus on some of his output as a fashion illustrator. His successful career began and ended early. At only seventeen he was submitting illustrations to French satirical magazines and it ended suddenly at fifty-three when he collapsed playing tennis at his lover Chanel's villa in the south of France. Although he was highly prolific in his role as a satirical illustrator it is his work as a fashion illustrator for which he is most remembered. Iribe, along with his contemporaries such as Georger Barbier and Georges Lepage, would revitalise the medium of the fashion plate lending them an intimacy, vividness and sense of narrative not seen before. Publications he contributed to include La Gazette du Bon Ton and Vogue. Couturiers that he produced illustrations for include Paul Poiret, Jeanne Lanvin and Jeanne Paquin.

here are examples of some of his work...

The following three images come from his most famous commission, the 1908 album of prints depicting Paul Poiret's Directoire collection.This finely produced album was available for free in a limited edition of 250 to a select group of Poiret's elite clientele. These prints are great examples of his use of the pochair technique. This involved the hand colouring of a monochrome print using a series of bronze or zinc stencils resulting in an image that captured the vividness of colour intended by the artist.