Day 1 - arrival in Paris
Saturday, June 6, 2026
Welcome to Paris and the start of your couture journey.
Check-in opens from 3:00pm at the elegant MGallery L’Échiquier Opéra Paris. Our team is happy to provide advice and assistance with airport transfers or travel arrangements.
In the evening, join April Calahan and Rebecca Devaney for a cocktail and canapé reception at 7:00pm in the hotel bar — a relaxed opportunity to meet your fellow participants, share introductions, and toast to the creative week ahead.
Day 2 – Miniatures & Masterpieces:
A Journey Through Fashion History, Sunday, June 7, 2026
“Paris represents the perfect finished product. It's where people come from all over the world to seek out the artisanal quality that cannot be found anywhere else and that we must above all seek to preserve.” Christian Dior
After breakfast at the MGallery L’Échiquier Opéra Paris, gather for a 2–3 hour introductory lecture with April Calahan and Rebecca Devaney. Together they will introduce the themes of Fashion Miniatures in Paris and outline the fabulous week ahead, with insights into what awaits you at La Couture Brigade and in the museums, archives, ateliers and boutiques of Paris.
April will give a presentation on the fascinating history of fashion dolls and miniatures which were far from being relegated to the realm of children. Learn about the pandora dolls of the 18th century which were so important in spreading the latest styles, they held diplomatic passports as they traveled between France, England and the New World and how elite haute couturiers century ignited the craze for boudoir dolls amongst the flappers of the 1920s.
While studying Fashion & Dress history Rebecca became fascinated by the Theatre de la Mode, over two hundred fashion miniatures crafted by the leading Haute Couture Houses in Paris in 1946. In Rebecca’s artistic practice she is inspired by poetry and prose that describe women’s experience of social constructs of beauty and femininity and she explores these themes in her textile art sculptures of fashion miniatures using Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion to craft their garments. This is the reason why Rebecca came to Paris all those years ago, to retire her hot-glue gun and learn the correct techniques for pattern-drafting and embroidered embellishment so that she could develop the Fashion Miniatures in her own artistic practice! She will show her textile art sculptures and embroidered masterpieces from École Lesage to inspire your creativity for the week ahead.
The afternoon will be an unforgettable visit to the Galerie Dior to marvel at the gorgeous fashions of this legendary designer. April will give a short description about the legacy of Christian Dior to set the scene for a wonderful experience. To give a deeper understanding of the incredible savoir-faire and craft involved in each garment on display, Rebecca will describe her time working as an haute couture embroiderer for Dior at the famed Atelier Vermont studio in Paris. You will be guided to marvel at the gorgeous fashion miniatures in the renowned gallery display, a glimpse of the couture adventures we have in store for you!
Day 3 – Atelier Beginnings & The Secrets of Paris Revealed
Monday, June 8, 2026
“In a machine-age, dress-making is one of the last refuges of human, the personal, the inimitable.” Christian Dior
After breakfast, you will be accompanied as you travel by Metro with your fellow participants to La Couture Brigade for your first full morning of class. Your course begins with a deep-dive into the world of Haute-couture dress-making with Jane. You will discover the secret and subtle details involved in creating an historical 1950s haute-couture gown. Together with Jane, you will determine the process of making a half-scale Dior-inspired gown and learn how to copy, cut and mark your pattern precisely and accurately.
In the afternoon Rebecca will guide you through Le Sentier, following in the footsteps of Paris’s celebrated seamstresses and tailors to visit legendary boutiques and showrooms filled with exquisite fabrics, trimmings, and threads. You’ll step back in time at Ultramod, Paris’s oldest notions store, discovering Duchess satin, vintage velvet ribbons, carved mother-of-pearl buttons, silk flowers, and countless textile treasures hidden in drawers and boxes. In the historic cloth merchants’ quarter, Rebecca will introduce you to fabled boutiques offering remnant bolts of haute couture silks, cashmeres, velvets, pleated organzas, bouclé knits and crisp linens. The afternoon concludes with an exclusive behind-the-scenes visit to Au Ver à Soie, a 200-year-old family atelier supplying silk threads to the great houses of Hermès, Chanel, and Dior—where you’ll meet fifth-generation owner Nathalie and select your own shimmering silks straight from the source.
Day 4 – Treasures of the Palais Galliera:
The Story of French Fashion Unfolds, Tuesday, June 9, 2026
“Without proper foundations there can be no fashion.” Christian Dior
This morning, return to La Couture Brigade for another immersive session with Jane where you will take a deep-dive into the foundations of fashion. You will work on the support layer of your couture gown, tailoring it precisely to fit your ½ scale mannequin.
After lunch, April will guide you to experience the splendor that is the Palais Galliera, the City of Paris’ fashion museum. Home to arguably one of the most important fashion collections in the world, it houses around 200,000 items spanning fashions in France from the 18th century to the present day. The collection also includes accessories and undergarments, and its permanent exhibition leads you through a history of French fashion. We will be welcomed by the museum’s curators and view their current exhibitions. April has coordinated and designed an incredible visit to the museum’s Resource Center to view exceptionally rare materials related to fashion dolls and miniatures throughout history.
Day 5 – The Fairytale of Fashion:
Weaving & Embellishment, Wednesday, June 10, 2026
“The detail is as important as the essential, when inadequate, it destroys the whole outfit.” Christian Dior
Following breakfast, travel to the atelier for a morning of creative work and guidance from Jane. You will work with luxury fabrics and learn to apply the special couture techniques that ensure drape and fit.
In the afternoon, Rebecca will continue the story of Paris’s love affair with luxury textiles at Malhia Kent, the “Poetess of Weaving,” where vibrant remnant yarns, designer samples, and haute couture fabrics overflow with creativity and colour. Afterwards, visit Atelier Lebuisson, an independent couture embroidery studio whose clients include Dior, McQueen, and Valentino. Enjoy a rare behind-the-seams glimpse into the enchanting world of haute couture embroidery—meeting artisans, witnessing their artistry, and discovering the savoir-faire behind each exquisite gown.
Day 6 – Threads of History in Le Marais:
From Alaia to the Archives, Thursday, June 11, 2025
“A dress is a piece of ephemeral architecture designed to enhance the proportions of the female body.” Christian Dior
After breakfast, travel by Metro with your host to La Couture Brigade for a full morning of class. Under Jane’s guidance, your creations are revealed! You will learn how the support, silk lining and luxury fabric layers are assembled to create our ½ scale masterpiece.
Following lunch on your own, we will head to Le Marais, a neighborhood steeped in history and now very much part of Paris’ shopping scene. April invites you to join her at one of her favorite places in Paris, the Fondation Azzedine Alaïa, which preserves the legacy and presents the collection of one of fashion history’s most beloved designers, Azzedine Alaïa. His seven decade career is only part of his legacy as he was an expert fashion historian and collector as well. We will visit the current exhibition and the Fondation’s incredible fashion bookstore: the best in Paris.
This afternoon holds a second visit for us as we visit the nearby Bibliothèque Forney, the decorative arts, design, textile and fashion library of Paris. With its origins dating to 1475, the building is not only a historic monument, it also serves as one of the most impressive resources for researching the history of art, design, fashion, textiles and artisanal craft.
Day 7 – The Legendary Atelier Caraco
Friday, June 12, 2025
“Real elegance is everywhere, especially in those things that do not show.” Christian Dior
Following breakfast, travel to the atelier for your final morning of creative work and guidance from Jane. Your last day is dedicated to those exquisite hand-finishing techniques that elevate your gown to the rarefied spheres of haute-couture. Celebrate the week’s achievements with your classmates and instructors after completing and presenting your fashion miniature, a 1950s historically accurate ½ scale Dior-inspired gown.
April and Rebecca invite you to join them on an exclusive tour of the legendary Atelier Caraco, renowned for their couture, they create extravagant garments for haute couture fashion and costumes for theatre, opera, cinema, television and cabaret. Students are led on a breathtaking tour by the Artistic Director through the library, fitting-room, pattern-making and sewing studios, meeting talented artisans and apprentices along the way, enjoying glimpses of works in progress and finished pieces.
As evening falls, gather with your fellow guests aboard an elegant glass-roofed bateau for a farewell dinner cruise along the Seine. Glide past Paris’s iconic landmarks—Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower—illuminated against the night sky. Over a refined dinner and fine wine, share memories and laughter, celebrating the craftsmanship and camaraderie that have defined your time together—a graceful finale to your Parisian journey.