Created as a means to re-build France’s fashion industry after the devastation of World War II, this exhibition shows one-third human size mannequins wearing fashions created by the country’s finest designers. When it debuted at Louvre’s Museum of Decorative Arts in 1945, the opening drew 100,000 visitors.  After touring Europe and the US in 1946, the exhibition languished in the basement of San Francisco’s City of Paris department store; the sets were destroyed, but the mannequins were saved by Alma de Bretteville Spreckels who championed their acquisition by Maryhill Museum of Art. Maryhill is now home to nine re-built sets and restored mannequins.

During 2019, three Théâtre de la Mode sets will leave storage and rotate onto view: André Beaurepaire’s “La Grotto Enchantée” (The Enchanted Grotto); Jean-Denis Malclès’ “Le Jardin Marveilleux” (The Marvelous Garden); and André Dignimont’s “Palais Royale.”

The sets feature garments and accessories by such celebrated designers as Worth, Jean Patou, Balenciaga, Nina Ricci, Mad Carpentier, Lanvin, Schiaparelli, Hermès, Pierre Balmain, and Grès, among others.

Image: Detail from Théâtre de la Mode: “Le Jardin Marveilleux” (The Marvelous Garden), original 1946 fashions and mannequins from set by Jean-Denis Malclès (recreated by Anne Surgers); Collection of Maryhill Museum of Art