Day 1 - arrival in Paris
Saturday
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 Rebecca for a champagne 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
“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 hour introductory lecture with Rebecca Devaney. She will introduce the themes of Fashion Miniatures in Paris and outline the fabulous week ahead, with insights into what awaits you at Au Ver à Soie and in the museums, archives, ateliers and boutiques of Paris.
Rebecca will give a presentation on the fascinating history of Haute Couture in Paris . The intriguing history of luxury textiles and fashion is revealed through the geography of the winding streets and wide boulevards of Paris. Travelling from Opéra to Le Sentier, we meet kings, politicians, spies cloth merchants, milliners, glove-makers, feather-workers, embroiderers and the fiercely independent Midinettes. This will set the scene for our wonderful week of immersion in French couture heritage and savoir-faire.
After lunch, Rebecca will guide you to experience the splendour 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 explore Tisser, Broder, Sublimer, an exhibition celebrating the craftspeople behind the seams of extravagant Haute Couture fashion; embroiderers, weavers, feather-workers, flower-makers, lace-makers, button-makers and goldsmiths.
Day 3 – Atelier Beginnings & The Secrets of Paris Revealed
Monday
“In a machine-age, dress-making is one of the last refuges of human, the personal, the inimitable.” Christian Dior
Our morning begins with a magical visit to the Dior Gallery, one of the most beautiful museums in Paris! In 2027, Dior is celebrating the 80th anniversary of the launch of the New Look in 1947 - we can expect to see an abundance of creativity, savoir-faire and beauty, each garment will inspire us for the week to come.
Next is a truly unforgettable experience - we have been invited to visit the Dior Heritage archives as part of the Fashion Miniatures program! We will enjoy privileged access and gain a profound understanding of the workings of the Dior Gallery as we step into the rarely seen archives. Elegant boxes with calligraphy labels reveal perfumes, costume jewellery, hats and shoes. Be still my beating heart! Next, you will be forgiven for gasping with delight as we are shown original Christian Dior sketches, New Look patterns and fabric samples. In a spectacular moment, dust jackets will be carefully unzipped to reveal glimpses of original New Look gowns. We will enjoy a remarkable opportunity to appreciate the magic, talent and legend that is Christian Dior.
In the afternoon, after all that inspiration, our couture journey begins with Elisa at the Au Ver à Soie showroom, transformed into a couture atelier for the week to come. You will discover the secret and subtle details involved in creating an historical 1950s haute-couture gown. Together with Elisa, you will determine the process of making a half-scale Dior-inspired gown and learn how to mark your pattern precisely and accurately.
Day 4 – The Fairytale of Haute Couture: Weaving & Embellishm
Tuesday
“Without proper foundations there can be no fashion.” Christian Dior
Following breakfast, you will be accompanied as you walk with your fellow participants to the Au Ver à Soie atelier for your next class with Elisa. Your couture journey continues as you build the foundations of your miniature garment with the inner bodice, boning, silk satin lining and underskirt
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, an exclusive visit to 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. With extraordinary generosity we are received in their archives to enjoy a fascinating presentation and marvel at their exquisite embroidery samples.
Day 5 – The Secrets of Paris Revealed
Wednesday
“The detail is as important as the essential, when inadequate, it destroys the whole outfit.” Christian Dior
After breakfast, you will be accompanied as you walk with your fellow participants to the Au Ver à Soie atelier or your next class with Elisa. You will learn how to work with lace in haute couture garment construction.
In the afternoon Rebecca will guide you through Le Sentier, following in the footsteps of Paris’s celebrated seamstresses and tailors. We have organised a thrilling collaboration with Sophie Hallette, a legendary French lace-maker who continue to manufacture breath-taking lace fabrics and ribbons today. You will be using their fabrics with Elisa in the studio to create your bustier gown and this afternoon Rebecca will take you on an exclusive visit to their showroom in Paris.
We will continue to Hamon, the secret supply of many a discerning Parisian couturière, where Dior, Yves Saint Laurent and Chanel source all their sewing notions. The afternoon ends with a stroll through the fabled cloth merchants of Le Sentier were Rebecca will help you navigate this always diminishing concentration of Haute Couture fabric purveyors.
Day 6 – Textile Treasures in Le Sentier
Thursday
“Real elegance is everywhere, especially in those things that do not show.” Christian Dior
Spend the morning at the Au Ver à Soie atelier progressing with your miniature couture project, as Elisa expertly shows you the delicate art of incorporating lace into the outer garment.
In the afternoon we delve deeper into Haute Couture embellishemnt. At Maison Kalij, discover the delicate art of plumasserie — the traditional French craft of featherwork. Marvel at how carefully selected feathers are cleaned, dyed, shaped and intricately worked by hand to create exquisite ornamental details for fashion and decorative pieces. Each feather offers its own unique colour, texture and movement, transformed through patience and specialist skill into a material of extraordinary beauty. The hidden jewel of Paris, Fried Frères has added sparkling details to extravagant couture gowns since the 19th century. A dizzying selection of beads, sequins and rhinestones, we will enjoy a private appointment, guided by the friendly staff who are professional embroiderers and always generous with their expert advice. A moment of true treasure hunting, drawers filled with pompoms of glistening seed beads, bags of sunshine sequins and sachets of twinkling rhinestones.
Together, these visits offer a fascinating glimpse into the rare materials, remarkable techniques and meticulous artistry that make Parisian haute couture so captivating.
Day 7 – The Legendary Atelier Caraco and A Parisian Farewell
Friday
“A dress is a piece of ephemeral architecture designed to enhance the proportions of the female body.” Christian Dior
Enjoy your final morning of tuition at Au Ver à Soie, putting the finishing touches on your miniature lace couture masterpiece with Elisa. 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.
Rebecca was invited by the formidably talented Claudine Lechaud, founder of the legendary Atelier Caraco, to bring private groups on exclusive tours of her extraordinary studio. 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 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 craft and camaraderie that have defined your time together—a graceful finale to your Parisian journey.