“There, in the back of the 19th-century theater, is a warren of workshops, just as there is any storied couture house, each dedicated to a specialty: tailoring, soft construction (known as ‘flou‘), knitwear, accessories, millinery and embroidery, as well as dyeing and painting. And as in the couture house ateliers, seamstresses cut and sew stiff linen mock-ups, called toiles, to perfect the design before cutting it in the final fabric, and produce embellishments, like handmade silk blossoms and gold braiding.”