Le Theatre de la Mode
is, unsurprisingly, a popular source of inspiration for doll collectors and manufacturers.
By Chloe Gambell
Until World War II, Paris was the undisputed centre of fashion, attracting attention and custom from all over the world. Whilst this brought prestige, it also meant that fashion became an essential part of the French economy. A whole industry developed around (and relied upon) the couture houses, creating many jobs in textile production, dyeing, jewellery and accessory making, or in workrooms as pattern cutters, seamstresses and embroiderers.
This all changed in June 1940, when Paris was invaded. Many couture houses closed, or moved as designers fled to the unoccupied zone, or to England and America. Some continued to trade, employing only a skeleton staff, working for a mainly German clientele now that it was too dangerous for foreign buyers and journalists to travel to Paris. Cut off from the influence of Paris, foreign (American and English in particular) designers were given their first real chance to work independently and be taken seriously.
Curiosity about Paris design was still strong, however, and when the city was liberated in August 1944, many publications rushed to report on what Parisians were wearing (despite the fact that there must have been many more serious things to write about...). The look that they found was quite bizarre. Short, top heavy dresses and long jackets were worn with massive, towering hats and turbans (or hair piled on top of the head), and chunky, wooden platform heels. It has been suggested that this look sprung from defiance, a joke at the expense of the designers' German clientele, but it was adopted by French women, too, and continued to be shown by designers as late as Spring 1945. Compared to the fashion that was being turned out in America, where designers had far less difficulties to combat, French fashion looked ridiculous and ugly, and was desperately in need of help if it was too regain its former position.
The idea for the Theatre de la Mode came from Robert Ricci, son of Nina, and the then head of the Chambre Syndicale, which was enlisted by Entraide Francaise to help raise funds for their work. Like the rest of Europe, Paris was suffering from severe shortages, and fabric was especially hard to come by. Rather than staging 'real life' fashion shows, which would have been almost impossible in these circumstances, the Chambre Syndicale decided to do everything in miniature, using mannequins on a 1:3 scale. This harked back to the old practice of sending dolls dressed in miniature versions of outfits to faraway buyers.
Made from wire (a salvaged material), with white, unpainted plaster heads, the mannequins were designed by Eliane Bonabel, an illustrator, and Joan Rebull, a Spanish sculptor. Fifty three design houses, including such well known names as Schiaparelli, Fath, Hermes, Ricci, Balenciaga, Worth, Lelong, Carven and Madame Gres, were given the task of creating up to five outfits each. The only difference between these clothes and those made for real people, was in their size; they had proper linings, closures, buttons and trimmings. Many were hand beaded, and designers often provided miniature foundation garments to go underneath. The couturiers were not the only artists who were involved. The mannequins' wigs were all professionally made and styled, and each one wore a pair of beautifully scaled down shoes. Jewellery, little gloves, hats, purses, belts, and even little powder compacts had to be made.
As impressive as the mannequins' miniature clothing and accessories were the sets in which they were displayed. The artistic director, Christian Berard commissioned graphic artists and set makers to create twelve of these. Possibly the most famous, is Jean Cocteau's Ma Femme est une Sorciere, inspired by the Rene Clair film, I Married a Witch (starring Veronica Lake). This dramatic set featured a group of mannequins in a badly destroyed room, in which half the roof and walls have been blown off to reveal a backdrop of photographs of the city. Other sets were less shocking, but equally striking, and included a theatre, street and fantasy scenes.
After a successful run at the Louvre, the mannequins and their sets were sent on a tour of Europe, and later to America. By early 1947, Christian Dior had grasped the attention of the world's fashion buyers and journalists with his 'New Look', and the Chambre Syndicale were reluctant to pay for the return of a group of mannequins dressed in outmoded designs. This was not the end of the Theatre de la Mode, however. Forgotten for more than thirty years, the mannequins were 'rediscovered' in the late 1980s, on display at the Maryhill Museum of Art, in Washington State, where they had been since 1952. Finally appreciated for their beauty and ingenuity, the remaining mannequins were sent back to Paris for restoration, whilst the sets, many of which no longer existed, were recreated with the aid of old photographs and descriptions.
