One Of A Kind RuPaul dolls come out for Drag Con!

 
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Twelve years ago, Integrity Toys released their RuPaul doll. And no one could predict back then what a household name RuPaul would become with his successful tv show RuPaul's Drag Race. Such an iconic person would of course be involved in the biggest drag queen convention in the world, Drag Con. Oh Mannequin, the team responsible for creating all of RuPaul's booths and merchandising at the convention, asked their friend, the multi-talented doll creator and designer Andrew Yang, who for the past year has transitioned into commercial doll making, collaborating with Phyn & Aero and other doll artists and sculptors, to customise 12 Ru Paul dolls into one of a kind Ru looks, in a very short amount of time.

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As with any celebrity who makes product, the RuPaul team are guaranteed a certain amount of goods-- and there was one style of doll, the black haired version of The Glamazon doll, that Rupaul's merchandise team had a little extra stock. RuPaul rarely wears black hair, so this particular version didn't have the same magic as some of the others-- not to mention her slightly dated bell bottoms and black bustier.

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Already used to working under tight deadlines, Andrew started working on the dolls right away: the dolls didn't need to be fitted for redressing and creating them as "art dolls" would shave some time off the construction end of things. He also was anxious to create a fun project that would be fast and shareable, and at the same time a fun exercise in putting out some new and exciting work-- to say nothing of the fact that RuPaul is one of his few idols. Talk about a dream project! One of the most exciting things about the project was that RuPaul selected each of the looks himself. Many of them were based on looks from the show designed by Zaldy, and other iconic moments from his long career, like a Bob Mackie and "Wonder Woman" number. 

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So how did Andrew tackle the assignment? First of all, the hair had to go. After heating the dolls in his oven on the "warm" setting and shearing off all the locks, the material had softened enough to remove all of the heads safely without damaging the (relatively old) plastic. Then came the scraping and the tweezing of all the leftover hairs. After that was done, He painted all of the scalps-- all of these girls would definitely be blonde!

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Andrew knew that he would be a candidate for an early onset of arthritis if he tried re-rooting the hair himself, despite getting tips from the always amazing Integrity doll community  re-routers like Salvador Arriaga. So he called up one of his Los Angeles dolly friends, Denisa Medrano. A hair designer at Mattel for six years in the late nineties and early 2000s, Denisa now works independently, acting as the go to girl for anyone developing a doll, rooting and designing hair for dolls for almost every major player in the toy industry. Going to her studio in Torrence is always an experience: its a magical wonderland filled with dolls and hair of every colour, texture, and curl. Andrew firmly believes that hair makes the doll, so it was important to work with the best.

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Denisa's right hand man is the phenomenal stylist and doll photographer Randy LaCroix, so between the two of them, the dolls would be in good hands. The doll heads had to be kept pliable in the oven as the hair rooting machines always work best on soft plastic, so the process of rooting and rotating out and styling took almost three days.

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The next step was fabrics and trims-- luckily Los Angeles has a phenomenal garment district, so between that and Mood, Andrew was able to source everything in a relatively short amount of time. He went to work sewing the clothes, and making the accessories. For his bigger fabric dolls, Andrew is used to working on many things at once, so everything is done in stages, pattern making, cutting, and sewing for each doll. And the un-articulated bodies made for great dress forms, even though sewing in such tiny scale was a fun exercise in and of itself.

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Andrew used the same design philosophy when making the small Ru outfits as when re-interpreting a look from Chanel for a client like Barneys New York or someone custom in one of his larger fabric dolls. He did not set out to recreate the look in miniature (he said there are vastly more talented people at doing that job), but rather, treated the doll like a fashion illustration and tried to capture the feeling and mood of the original look. Sometimes that can be done with just the hair and makeup, and you can get away with taking more creative liberties on the clothes, other times, there are certain things you have to get right on the outfit.

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Third step: painting the face. The makeup was more about being organized. At this point, all of the hair was roughly styled, so when he covered up the nylon locks to keep them from getting painted with matte acrylic spray, Andrew made sure to label all of their paper towel coverings with dress nicknames. His nightmare scenario was doing a faceup for one look on the wrong hair. For most of the looks, he only partially repainted, as the original screening was beautiful and he wanted to make sure the dolls maintained a level of consistency and looked in line with the original dolls and Ru's brand.

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After the heads went in for a last round in the oven, and back on the dolls, each of them went through the styling comb again. Randy and Denisa's styling was beautiful, but they are used to delivering something commercial and prototype perfect, and Andrew wanted to find that perfect balance between messy and glamour for a lot of the hairstyles.

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It was a big stroke of luck that right around the time Andrew was finishing the dolls he crossed paths with André Armenante, a West Hollywood based filmmaker, inventor, and theatrical designer. He migrated from a career in special effects/robotics to the toy industry with his cutting edge interactive hologram playset HolograFX, which launched with Toys R Us worldwide and was the most awarded toy of 2014. Recently, Armenante was a lead special effects designer for ‘Magic To Do’ - a new musical from Stephen Schwartz the Oscar, Grammy and Tony Award winning composer of Wicked, Godspell and Pippin and has worked with the likes of David Copperfield, Mattel, and Hasbro.

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Usually, on these short turnaround projects, the artist doesn't get a lot of time to document the work in a great way, so when André wanted to collaborate, Andrew jumped at the chance, and in the days before the dolls were delivered to Ru's people, they shot and edited a fun showcase video-- which couldn't have been done if they weren't pushed to do it all in time by Andrew's partner Daniel Randell!

Andrew believes that if the doll world is to survive, and not become a hyper expensive collector hobby, it is important to market and create a buzz around dolls in a way that reaches beyond just the community, so in many ways this was a perfect project to create some excitement around dolls, and it worked! Hours after the ribbon was cut for Drag Con 2017, most of the dolls had been sold, and by the time the convention doors closed, it was a sell-out ! Congratulations Ru!

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Andrew had a lot of fun working in this scale, and on such fabulous dresses, so you can expect to see his new doll, Kadira, in some more flashy fun evening wear-- and commercials for her too! Now back to making all of her samples!....

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There's a Cindy Crawford Barbie doll and it is not for sale

Instagram is the medium of the moment for lots of celebrities and professionals alike: it's so much easier to share a photo of something you're doing or your newest creation than writing about it or staging an elaborate presentation. Especially if it can reach thousands of people in an instant. It is not surprising then that it has become the social arena of choice for fashion people. most notably stylists and models. Cindy Crawford is one of the original 90s supermodels that is active on the platform. Just the other day she posted a photo of a Barbie made to look like her:


Since there was nothing published about the doll from Mattel, I did a little on-line search and came up with the goods: the doll is an OOAK creation, It was presented to Cindy way back in 2003 at the CAAF (Children Affected By AIDS Foundation) benefit in Santa Monica, California. The doll is dressed in a Roberto Cavalli gown, the same one Cindy was wearing during the event.


I don't know what made Cindy remember the doll after all this time and post it again (in the text accompanying the instagram post she mentions loving Barbies as a child), but it sure made me wish for a series of dolls in the likeness of supermodels from that era: Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Tatjana Patitz etc. They would be the ultimate fashion dolls. One can only hope. And it doesn't have to be Mattel making them. Looking at you Integrity Toys.


Top photo courtesy of Cindy Crawford (Instagram), middle and bottom photos from Daily Mail/Wireimage

An Oriental Obsession for a good cause - Barbie goes geisha!

As part of the 10th edition of Firenze4Ever, LuisaViaRoma joins forces with Mattel to produce a limited edition Barbie designed by Japanese artist Hiroyuki Kikuchi. All proceeds will go towards the fight against breast cancer. The eBay Auction starts 12 Jan 2015. Firenze4Ever is a twice-yearly event hosted by LuisaViaRoma just before the Pitti shows in Florence.


Introducing Oriental Obsession Barbie, the latest addition to the Mattel family. The one-of-a-kind doll is realized by Mario Paglino and Gianni Grossi, members of Mattel’s special event team and the creative duo behind Magia 2000. The pair carefully crafted the doll’s oriental-inspired look based on images drafted by Hiroyuki Kikuchi. Hiroyuki Kikuchi is an art-director, illustrator and photographer. The Tokyo- native has curated important projects and campaigns in luxury sectors ranging from fashion to cars. Resident in Italy since 2003, he collaborates with major fashion, luxury and gourmet brands. His illustrations have been published in Vogue Italia and other international mastheads. 


Hiroyuki will create six different designs as part of the event at the LuisaViaRoma concept store over the first two days of Firenze4Ever. Inspired by the Oriental Zodiac, each of the pieces of artwork will be on display in store for the duration of Pitti Immagine. Only ten unique pieces have been produced, making Oriental Obsession Barbie a true collector’s item. The ten limited edition dolls will be auctioned off as part of Firenze4Ever 10th Edition and all proceeds will go towards the Anastacia Fund and the fight against breast cancer.


Internationally recognized singer/songwriter Anastacia has released a total of five studio albums and sold over 30 million records to date. A true survivor, Anastacia is a committed spokesperson for breast  cancer awareness who continues to share her own story and support others through her work with the Anastacia Fund. The Anastacia Fund was established through The Breast Cancer Research Foundation with the purpose of raising awareness and funds for research on breast cancer. After being diagnosed herself in 2003, Anastacia turned her effort toward the fight against breast cancer. The international superstar users her influence and public status to further the cause and is determined to help women take charge of their own health. Anastacia will represent the project, kicking off the auction at the LUISAVIAROMA concept store in Florence on Monday 12 January. The limited edition Oriental Obession Barbie will be auctioned on Ebay, with proceeds going towards the Anastacia Fund.


Magia2000, the artistic duo formed by Mario Paglino and Gianni Grossi, was playfully originated in 1999, during a warm sunny day, chaperoned by a playline Barbie sold as a magazine gadget. This way, the pure pleasure of play entered their adult lives.  They are creating these 10 incredible official Barbie dolls for Mattel Italy and LuisaViaRoma, following the design of the Japanese artist Hiroyuki Kikuchi. Their magnificently detailed craftsmanship and artistry is obvious once again in this latest of their creations.

The Wall Of Dolls unveiled in Milan during Men's Fashion Week


A Wall of Dolls. Just this one sentence makes a doll collector salivate with anticipation, like the Pavlovian dog of science. But this is not about doll collector fancy. This is a charity affair. "The Wall of Dolls" exhibit in Milan was unveiled during menswear fashion week to help spotlight increasing violence against women, as WWD reported.


“The Wall of Dolls” at the Cultural Center in Via de Amicis.

Fashion designers, celebrities, journalists and writers from Italy collaborated on this event. Fifty fashion designers, among them Missoni, Etro, Max Mara, Trussardi and Eva Cavalli are taking part with their own designed dolls. The beneficiary is human right association Intervita and other nonprofit organizations. The dolls are exhibited on a wall of the Cultural Center on Via de Amicis.


Antonio Marras' doll at “The Wall of Dolls” exhibit

Intervita was founded in Milan back in 1999. According to their mission statement, "Intervita is a non-profit non-governmental organization for development cooperation, recognized by the Italian Ministry of foreign affairs; we are independent, non-denominational and apolitical." "Intervita works in Italy, Asia, Africa and Latin America to support children, women and local communities in the fight against poverty and inequality and to promote sustainable development." "Intervita collaborates with a network of other civil-society organizations to give the most vulnerable people a voice on the Italian and international political agenda, and we are involved in the main networks protecting children's and women's rights."


The Eva Cavalli doll was made by the talented Magia 2000 doll studio

The principal creator of the event, Italian journalist Jo Squillo, said the decision to set up the wall during men’s fashion week was meant to raise awareness among men. The wall is to travel to other Italian and European cities. The initiative was included on the calendar of the Italian Chamber of Fashion with the patronage of the Milan municipality.


The Missoni doll with the obligatory multicoloured stripes

Best thing about the exhibit: everyone can add their own doll to the wall. I would love to see what people create and put on the wall, either simply to participate or for someone they know that has suffered from violence.


Etro's doll with their characteristic prints

All photos by Lele Sandrini for WWD.com

LE PARI(S) MERVEILLEUX! - If it's Paris, it's fashion - and dolls too!

For 11 years running, an incredible alchemy takes place, bringing together, around a common goal, the worlds of Fashion, Art and International Cooperation. This meeting between the greatest fashion designers, artists and renowned jewellers gave birth to a major event: the Frimousses Creators.


Lanvin par Alber Elbaz - Lot n°39 Edith la parisienne 

For the 11th edition of "Frimousses de Créateurs", artists and designers reveal "Pari(s) Merveilleux" with a pun in using the word Paris, that can be also translated as "The Bet (S) Wonderful!" (Pari=bet, stake). The 2013 UNICEF France event pays tribute to the city of light, the one that hosts art and fashion icons alike, which is Paris of course.


Christian Dior - Lot n°28 Isis

For over 10 years , Paris is the setting of "Frimousses de Créateurs ", another way of contributing to the education and mobilization of the public for children's rights and protection. This major event in Paris enables UNICEF to fund immunization. Each year, designers and artists support a generous bet"": vaccination of the children in Darfur. With their imagination and creativity, each designer offers his version of "Pari(s) Wonderful": magical, incredible, turbulent, surprisingly generous... Among them, Olivia Putman, Eric Bottero, Richard Orlinski, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Jerome Mesnager, Carlos Cruz-Diez and others, have agreed to join this solidarity action.


Chanel par Karl Lagerfeld - Lot n°14 La petite Coco

Globally known fashion Houses like Dior, Chanel, Vuitton, Gucci, Lanvin, but also independent designers like Jean Paul Gaultier, Alexis Mabille, Chantal Thomass, invest their talents to the cause. Artists from all over the world also contribute this year with an original work of art: -M- and Lisa Roze Ali Mahdavi, Lorenz Bäumer, Nicolas Saint Gregoire... 


Nicolas Saint Grégoire - Lot N°34 Eugénie

This year's exhibition will be held from November 26 to December 1 at the Petit Palais, a loyal partner of the event. The auction of these works, organized by Artcurial will be held on December 2 at 20:00 at the Four Seasons Hotel George V, a new partner of the event, and will be relayed through internet auctions Figaro.


Jean Paul Gaultier - Lot n°33 Yvette

If you go to the event's website, you can read more about each work of art (not all of them are dolls) and find out about the artist and the inspiration behind it. There is also an iOS app, a Facebook page and a Twitter profile. Warning: it's all in French.


Chantal Thomass - Lot n°11 Paris, c'est une brune