This is a new rotation of Théâtre de la Mode sets and their accompanying fashion mannequins. It includes Jean Cocteau’s “My Wife is a Witch” and Jean Saint Martin’s “Paris Sketch,” both sets recreated by Anne Surgers in 1990. The third set that will rotate on to view is Anne Surgers’ “Street Scene.”
All three sets feature 1946 evening and day wear by some of the top Parisian designers, including the house of Worth, Ana de Pombo, Lucien Lelong, Nina Ricci, Lanvin, Rochas and Balmain.
Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.
Whether or not you go, Théâtre de la Mode: Fashion Dolls: The Survival of Haute Couture, harnesses the romance of the world of fashion and high art. It tells the fascinating story of a collection of miniature mannequins and describes the birth of Theatre de la Mode, the Theater of Fashion. Full of stars such as Robert Ricci (Nina Ricci's son), filmmaker Jean Cocteau, and other members of the 1944 haute couture industry, the story follows 237 miniature fashion dolls through their epic tour of Europe and North America, bringing fashion, elegance, and beauty into a war-torn world. Also included are new colour photographs of the mannequins, the reconstructed sets, and close-up details of clothing so sewers, designers, and fashion mavens can appreciate the creativity of Paris designers at the end of World War II.
