The Theatre de la Mode

The Theatre de la Mode. The exhibition is now housed at the Maryhill Museum which is located near Hats by Leko. Choice of Book, DVD or Video (VHS).

The Theatre of Fashion…A must for your library!

It was winter of 1944-45, just after the Liberation of Paris. World War II still raged. To raise funds for the French war relief and to help Paris regain its role as fashion capital, the Paris couture house including the greatest names such as Balenciaga, Schiaparelli, Lavin… and over forty others, created a unique exhibition of 200 petite wire mannequins clothed in the latest fashions and displayed in miniature theatre sets. It was called the Theatre de la Mode. The exhibition toured Europe and the U.S. raised millions of francs for the war relief and established Paris as capital of fashion.

The story is vividly told by many who originally created the exhibition, and by Leslie Caron, Jean Marais, Christian Lacroix, Hubert De Givenchy, Helene Rochas, Bill Blass and Rosamond Bernier. Shot on location in Paris, the video combines oral recollections with rare archival film of the war and post-war eras, of the original exhibition and of fashion in the 1940’s. (Today’s designers should take heed.)

The documentary tells the fascination story of the Theatre de la Mode…how it was lost for 45 years and then rediscovered and restored. An exciting glimpse of Paris and French fashion in 1945-46…on the eve of Christian Dior’s New Look.