It was in Paris, March 1945, and a few weeks after the armistice that an exhibition was attracting the curious. A real homage to French haute couture, Le Petit Théâtre de la Mode featured in miniature form, the creations by the greatest couturiers of the period. Christian Dior, then working at Lucien Lelong, was the project's originator, and working with him were his friends Christian Bérard and Jean Cocteau, who assisted with the staging and the sets.

The event was then seen as an injection of fresh promise in a Paris blighted by the Second World War, a return to beauty, a veritable dose of sunlight.

Today, paying homage to the 1945 project, Le Petit Théâtre Dior sets off on a world tour and has chosen the city of Chengdu, in China, as the first stop. Twelve installations retrace the history of the House. Minutely sewn to the millimeter, they resemble the originals down to the tiniest detail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7Ijqa0VTM0

It's not just this exhibition that's heading off around the world, it seems the Dior spirit that's traveling, too.