London Fashion Doll Festival 2019 - day II: the salesroom

The second day of the London Fashion Doll Festival was dedicated to sales. Sellers had booked tables in advance and were in the Summerly Room early Sunday morning to prepare for the day. When I arrived, a little bit after ten, the place was buzzing with excitement. As it was a day open to the public (with tickets), the room was full of people walking among the tables, checking out the dolls and stuff on offer and making their purchases.

The raffle sale was also on for the draw at the end of the day, benefiting the Children With Cancer UK charity. I got myself an iced coffee and mingled in with the crowd, talking to old and new friends, checking out the lovely dolls on sale and enjoying the atmosphere.

Navdeep Sikand was there with Mark and of course, Anouk, La Poupée Mannequin! You can see some of his dolls on sale below, they are gorgeous.

Probably the smallest fashion dolls on sale in LFDF 2019 were the Irena Barto dolls. Her latest collection of 9” resin dolls, The First Spring, were on display along with some more of her work.

I was so happy to finally meet the talented Julian Stanislaw Kalinowski in real life and see his amazing ladies up close!

I spotted a Twiggy doll from the 60s!

Another creator with exquisite resin dolls on sale was the talented Alessandra Nicolin from Italy. Her dolls are so beautiful!

The day ended with the raffle of the donated dolls and outfits to benefit the Children With Cancer UK charity - resulting in many happy people going away with awesome wins and the charity receiving £3.420 total along with the OOAK auction on ebay.

We had the chance to find out the theme of next year’s festival, and see the trailer above - it’s Royals! See you in London Fashion Doll Festival 2020!

London Fashion Doll Festival takes place this Saturday! Are you ready?

I know Simon Farnworth for many years, first online through doll groups and social media, and of course his incredible doll portal Doll Observers. We finally met for real last month at IDC in Milan. And now he's presiding over the London Fashion Doll Festival, which will be held this Saturday, 30th of June at the V&A Museum of Childhood.

The LFDF 2018 is organised by members of the London Fashion Doll Club, a not for profit organisation. A group of like-minded collectors who came together with the dream of organising an inclusive event for Fashion Doll Collectors. The event is not directly affiliated or sponsored by any doll brands or companies, including Mattel. Money raised from the raffle on the day will be donated to the V&A Museum of Childhood and proceeds from their Charity Doll Auctions will be donated to the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital Charity.

The event is titled WONDERLAND and the organisers have also managed, in association with Superdoll Collectables, to secure a very special Sybarite Doll Upgrade Package for attendees to purchase. I think this is a doll anxiously awaited by all, attendees or not.

The Summerly Rooms at the V&A Museum of Childhood will be home to the event with salesroom, exhibition, talks and more. Special OOAK Alice In Wonderland themed centrepiece dolls were specially designed for the event. Attendees will have the chance to win one for themselves. An Exclusive Fashion by Microsonik London will also be handed out along with a goodie bag.

There will also be time for a spot of Afternoon Tea, following the general theme. A special breakout event for the unveiling of the exclusive Superdoll Collectables Sybarite event doll will also take place for the upgrade conventioneers. Charles Fegen from Superdoll will also treat attendees to a talk about the history of the Sybarite dolls. Other dolls brands exhibiting at the event include Andymy Designs, RDG dolls, Emperis, Janka Creator, Anouk, and Free Fantasy Dolls. 

Registration for the event was £70 which includes entry, refreshments, goodie bag and more. The Superdoll Upgrade Package, which includes the regular registration price, Sybarite doll and VAT was priced at £448. Cannot wait to see the dolls and photos from the event. Hopefully next year, I might be able to attend myself!