The intricate 27” tall dolls and their lush sets toured major cities of Europe and the United States, beginning in Paris and ending in 1946 in San Francisco. There, after the exhibit closed, jewels worn by the dolls were sent back to France, the sets were presumably destroyed, and the dolls disappeared into storage in the basement of the City of Paris Department Store. Rescued in 1952, the dolls were donated to the then-new Maryhill Museum of Art near Goldendale, in Washington’s Columbia Gorge.

In the 1980s, the late Professor Stanley Garfinkel of Ohio’s Kent State University rediscovered the dolls and the Maryhill Museum sent them to Paris for restoration. The sets were then rebuilt and the Théâtre de la Mode exhibit opened at its original 1940s location in Paris. Among the designers whose fashions are represented in Théâtre de la Mode are Worth, Pierre Balmain, Gres, Paquin and Nina Ricci. The collection recently completed an international tour that included The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The Fashion Foundation in Tokyo, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and The Imperial War Museum in London. Now, for the first time, Seattle has a chance to experience Théâtre de la Mode.

Fashion at MOHAI will include a series of special programs, including lectures, fashion shows, films and special hands-on textile conservation workshops. For more program information, please see the exhibit event calendar or visit http://www.seattlehistory.org.

Fashion at MOHAI is made possible with support from MOHAI members and donors, with promotional support from Seattle Metropolitan magazine.