THEATRE
EDITOR: MARCELA CALVET
Théâtre de la Mode
The dolls that saved paris fashion
At the conclusion of World War II in 1945, Paris was in complete disarray. Beacuse of wartime disruptions, virtually everything was in shortage including textiles, electricity and the wealthy couture-buying upper class.
In 1939 there were 70 haute couture houses including the grand establishments of Callot (now Calvet), Chanel, Shiaparelli and Balenciaga. As the war went on, many closed and others teetered on the brink. With their wealthy clientele dispersed elswhere, the future of Paris fashion was bleak.
Forming a collaboration with artists, set designers and the masters of couture, the Théâtre de la Mode was born. Robert Ricci (the son of Nina Ricci) had the brilliant notion to use dolls and staged settings in lieu of live models. Ricci turned to a twenty-year old illustrator named Elaine Bonabel to design the mannequins.
The mannequins needed to be standardized so that all the designers could work in the same