On the 31st of May, Dior unveiled the exhibition Le Petit Théâtre Dior in Chendgu, China (open until the 20th of June). It is the first stop of this travelling exhibition, inspired by Théâtre de la Mode, a 1945–1946 touring exhibit of fashion mannequins, approximately 1/3 the size of human scale, crafted by top Paris fashion designers. Now, for the house of Dior, twelve installations retrace the history of the House and present miniature versions of the Bar suit, the dresses Schuman, Muguet, Miss Dior and many more. Minutely sewn to the millimetre, they resemble the originals down to the tiniest detail. It's not just an exhibition that's heading off around the world, it's the Dior spirit that's travelling, too.

So why is Dior making these miniature dresses, crafted with full-scale precision? "In a time when everything is tending to the machine. Dior should be more like an artisanal laboratory than the ideal of a factory" Christian Dior wrote in his memoirs. Even before founding his own House, the couturier recognized that the noble professions exercised by the artisans were inseparable from Haute Couture.

Pale pink and white silk bustier ball dress worn by Jennifer Lawrence for the 2013 Academy Awards.

Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2013

At the time of the original Théâtre De La Mode exhibition, Christian Dior himself was working for Lucien Lelong, a venerable French fashion house and it is believed that he had a hand in making some of the original dresses. In the modern reinterpretation, even at only a third the size of the original model, each miniature dress in the Petit Théâtre Dior is produced with the master's exacting standards: based on a cotton toile in the purest Haute Couture tradition and with the same precision and rigour as the magical creations worn by Dior's clients.

J'Adore: Backless dress in nude-coloured silk chiffon, Belle Epoque gold necklace.

Special creation, 2011 for Dior perfume ad.

In couture ateliers time seems to stand still: embroidery is done by hand, as in the 18th century (and mostly in specialised small firms such as Lesage), miniature silk fabric flowers are made by hand, with delicate precision almost matching a neurosurgeon:.one can see them on the original Miss Dior dress, designed in 1949, as well as on the miniature version,made especially for this exhibition. To achieve this result, le petite main carries on as part of a long legacy; fabric petals are cut out by hand with a punch tool and the embossing is done with a period tool. Then both are fixed around a brass stalk to make the final flower.

White organza evening dress embroidered with “Pointillist” layered chiffon.

The Chase Model#5 head sculpt is on a 16" Tyler bending wrist body with the cameo skin tone. She has brown painted eyes and flame and chestnut blended rooted saran hair. She comes in a pale pink Lycra bodysuit with a coordinating chiffon belt, nude pantyhose and matching faux leather shoes. Again a basic doll without a stand. Meh. She looks a lot like a Greek singer, Helena Paparizou (photo below).

Look what a different face make up and wig can do! This is again the Chase Model#5 head sculpt on a 16" Tyler bending wrist body, with the Tyler skin tone. She has blue painted eyes and mink non-removable saran wigged hair. Her outfit consists of a grey/black and white tweed coat dress, with a black cotton net petticoat, black faux leather gloves, black faux leather tights, rhinestone and beads necklace and black faux leather shoes. She has a stand. This one looks like a tame Siouxsie Sioux (photo below).

This is the sole addition to the line. Another basic doll without a stand. The Precarious™ head sculpt is on a 16" Antoinette™ body with the cameo skin tone. She has blue painted eyes with applied eyelashes and a  black removable wig of saran hair. She is wearing a white cotton knit dress, white stretch knit panties, white sunglasses and white elastic platform shoes. She looks interesting but add $10 for a stand.

Two dolls were added to the Théâtre de la Mode collection. The first one has the Gina head sculpt on a 16" Antoinette™ body with the Tyler skin tone. She has green painted eyes and chestnut rooted saran hair with faux flower decoration. She is wearing a dusty rose satin dress with faux flowers (which to me look huge for this scale, but have not seen any photos of the corresponding outfit in the original collection) which has a petticoat. She comes with white Lycra opera length gloves, a rhinestone necklace, rhinestone earrings, a rhinestone bracelet and matching satin shoes. She has nude pantyhose with attached panties and comes with a stand. Très jolie!

The second doll also uses the Gina head sculpt on a 16" Antoinette™ body with the Tyler skin tone. This one has also green painted eyes but sports darkest brown rooted saran hair. She is wearing a black chiffon dress with rhinestone decoration on the bodice, a black velvet hat with rhinestone decoration and veil, rhinestone earrings, nude pantyhose and black faux leather shoes. She comes with a stand.