KITH collaborates with Barbie and offers customers a chance to style their official doll!

KITH is a retail store in New York, founded by designer Ronnie Fieg In 2010. They make and sell sportswear, establish sneaker collaborations and also sell a number of renowned street wear brands. They now announce a collaboration with Barbie, working together to create a special experience for their customers: they will have the chance to create the official Kith x Barbie doll!

Starting this Saturday 9/21 KITH will be hosting styling appointments where customers will get to select one of the four dolls they have created with Mattel designer Carlyle Nuera and then style them in a look from over 100 different Kith Women apparel pieces. One of these submissions will then be selected to be produced as the official Kith x Barbie doll. Accordimg to their Instagram account though, all appointment slots have officially been filled. They do mention that walk-ins are welcome but cannot guarantee access. Follow them for further updates. I love both the doll’s and the outfits, at least what what we can see in the official photos. I envy the people who will get to style a doll and submit it for a chance to win.

So how come they decided to work with Barbie?. “For sixty years, Barbie has been an international pop-culture phenomenon offering girls around the globe a chance to play, tell stories, and, most importantly, to dream. Kith echoes this mindset by presenting an immersive world for its customers by engaging them through a unique retail environment that fosters creativity,” says Kith-founder Ronnie Fieg. This shared philosophy is what started this partnership—and it will remain a key element in the collaboration between Kith and Barbie.

The Kith Women x Barbie collaboration kicks off with a Barbie takeover of Kith’s flagship store in New York.  Several activations are planned including: 

STYLING CONTEST: September 21st - September 29th

Kith will host Barbie styling sessions at its Soho location on the second floor – known as the Arsham/Fieg Gallery. By appointment only, participants can choose from four dolls that represent the diversity and the dynamism of the Kith Woman. Entrants will be able to dress, style and outfit on-site with 100 custom doll-sized apparel and accessories pieces from the Kith Women line. 

Participants will then submit a photo of their uniquely styled Barbie to be evaluated by a cross-section of the fashion industry’s most notable tastemakers. The panel of judges will include Dianne Garcia, Jackie Kim – director of Kith Women, Maeve Reilly, Ade Samuel and Kith founder Ronnie Fieg. Judges will select the top six looks, which will be put to a public vote via @KithWomen social platform. The submission that receives the most public votes will then become the official limited-edition Kith x Barbie doll, to be released in late 2020 and available from Kith stores worldwide.

RETROSPECTIVE: September 21st to October 2nd 

A complementary retrospective exhibition that celebrates Barbie’s 60-year history will be on view at Kith’s Soho store from September 21st to October 2nd. The original Barbie created in 1959, featuring her iconic black and white chevron swimsuit, will be on display, alongside surrounding ephemera and milestone moments. The in-store museum-inspired vignette layout will be a testament to the doll’s empowering legacy and status as a pop-culture icon.

LIMITED EDITION COMMEMORATIVE APPAREL

Kith will also be designing and distributing limited edition Kith x Barbie 60th Anniversary t-shirt, available only to the first 200 attendees.

All photos courtesy of KITH and Mattel

Six young fashion designers dress Barbie for her 60th anniversary- British Vogue in collaboration with Mattel

Celebrating  Barbie’s 60th anniversary, British Vogue invited six leading young designers to dress the icon in their signature style. Here are the photographs of the designers and their models, read the full story here.

Matty Bovan

A wealth of artisanal techniques have been incorporated into the costume for his intricately constructed Barbie: hand-padded and sewn into her dress with golden Japanese yarn, she is the miniature embodiment of his magpie eclecticism. “It’s kind of like Barbie couture,” Bovan reflects. “I wanted her to have the same energy that my runway clothes have... She’s epic.”

Mowalola

Her Barbie is dressed in a miniature evolution of Mowalola’s spring/summer 2020 collection, with backcombed hair by Virginie P Moreira and make-up created by Daniel Sallstrom (using a miniature paintbrush), “she is a Mowalola superhero,” Ogunlesi grins. “She’s strong and captivating and ready to have a really good time. I want to be wherever she’s going.”

Richard Malone

“Barbie is a businesswoman – and a lot of the women I work with are too, but they don’t dress like men in suits; fashion is a part of their identity. I wanted to show that Barbie could wear a runway look but still live her everyday life and remain the boss that she truly is.”

Art School

Eden Loweth & Tom Barratt’s “non-binary Barbie” offers a perfect example of their take on figure-skimming glamour. “Art School is about making clothes that are really tolerant, that will stand with someone throughout their life, and as they evolve as in their own identity.”

Charles Jeffrey Loverboy

His Barbie (“Let’s call her ‘Wee Hen’,” he decrees in a Glaswegian drawl) exemplifies that spirit: dressed in a replica of the closing look from his spring/summer 2018 collection, which drew upon the history of cross-dressing through the ages, she is, in his words, “wearing the most fabulous piece ever.” “It took a whole week – but just looks like the actual dress!” he exclaims. “I’m really proud of her.”

Supriya Lele

Growing up besotted by Barbie (“I was an only child, so I had about 40”), Lele’s first venture into design was creating custom wardrobes for her – now things have come full circle, as she precisely scaled the measurements of one of her autumn/winter 2019 looks to suit Barbie’s size. In fact, so perfectly is her neon outfit reconfigured that even the pockets are fully operational. “I felt like a child again,” she grins. “But now I have an incredible pattern-cutter to help.”

Photography Credits:
Photographer: Stas Komarovski. Stylist: Poppy Kain. Art Direction: Dom Kelly. Hair: Yumi Nakada-Dingle. Make-Up: Thomasin Waite. Nails: Lauren Michelle Pires. Set Design:Andrew Clarkson. Production: Verity Cousins.

Photos and text courtesy of British Vogue and Mattel.

Elysegate ends with a bang - The Nordstrom Jason Wu 10 years anniversary doll

It was hotly anticipated but yet again wholly catastrophic: the Nordstrom Elyse Jolie Jason Wu anniversary doll, probably the most beautiful of all in this line, was no exception from the rule that defined all previous releases for the 10 year anniversary. While promised that it would be an online only sale, it was available mainly (if not exclusively) by phone. The online link showed the doll sold out when it first appeared, then available and so on. People calling Nordstrom found either sales representatives that knew about the doll or some that did not. International buyers could not get the doll (with rare exceptions) when the opposite was communicated initially. All in all, quite a clusterfuck, if you pardon my language. Was it worth it? To each his own. Some people love the thrill of the hunt, others don’t. I feel we have enough drama and anxiety in our daily lives to have them in our favourite past time as well. Below are the doll photos from the Nordstrom website as well as their product description. The final photo is the outfit from the Jason Wu Spring 2008 Collection.

W Club members have an opportunity to enter a lottery for 15 dolls reserved just for them, probably as a small I-am-sorry gesture for all the sale shenanigans around the anniversary dolls.

This was the outfit that opened the Spring 2008 show and is inspired by Grace Kelly in Rear Window.

 Details & Care

Celebrate designer Jason Wu's decade-long career in fashion—and his previous experience as a toy designer—with this limited-edition, highly collectible doll dressed in a stunning look from the spring 2008 runway. Luxe touches like red lips, a faux-leather handbag and stunning stiletto pumps beautifully complement the posable doll's black-and-white silk-faille dress.

• 12"
• Includes doll, stand, dress, bag and shoes
• ABS/polypropylene/silicone/PVC doll with 100% silk clothing and PVC accessories
• Imported
• Collectors
• Item #5576263

The second Net-A-Porter Jason Wu 10th anniversary is for sale... and sold out!

We have gotten used to it by now... special 10th anniversary limited edition doll by Jason Wu goes on sale by online luxury retailer, usually earlier than anticipated, people scramble to get her, tears and tantrums ensue, people lash out at forums and social media about how bad the process is. Happened yet again with the second Net-A-Porter released Elyse Jolie. 

The doll started trickling out from the Asian websites of Net-A-Porter, then the wave moved on to Europe, to finally crush down on the US. If you were not prepared to wake up,earlier than usual, keep searching and refreshing the website and have credit card ready to spend $200 in the US, AU$362.88 in Australia ($277.25 US), HK$2,240 In Hong Kong (286,70 US$), US$282.24 plus taxes in South Korea, €278 in France (329,64 US$), €284 in Italy (336,75 US$), or £255 in the UK (342,31 US$), well, why bother? This is not the way to enjoy a hobby, bask in the beauty of a collectible doll and get satisfaction from adding her to your collection. At least that’s what I think. Other people will tell you this is the way collecting Fashion dolls goes, you should be prepared for stuff like this when starting your collection and so on. But why? Just to get another coveted, limited edition doll that will be forgotten when the next one comes along? Do you think all these anniversary dolls will achieve holy grail status and be as coveted as, let’s say, A Fashionable Life or True Royalty Vanessas? 

 This Elyse had the following description on the retailer’s website: 

• Height 32cm
• Width 9cm

EXCLUSIVE AT NET-A-PORTER.COM. Little known fact - Jason Wu was a toy designer before starting his acclaimed fashion career. Created to mark his 10th anniversary and celebrate his whimsical background, this limited edition doll is styled in a one-shoulder red and black mini dress from the house's Fall '13 runway and features ultra long eyelashes. It comes with a display stand, coordinating lace-up pumps and interchangeable manicured hands.

• Comes in designer packaging
• Product number: 1046363

The photographs are so obviously not by Integrity. The NAP team have no idea how to pose the doll or even set her up on the stand properly (the underarm support was placed at the hips, lol), which goes to show how a non-collector buyer will deal with the doll. If she wasn’t dressed in box, no way they’d bother. And I wonder, why not ask someone who does know? A luxury retailer would do that, wouldn’t they? Unless their margin is so low, they did not even want to deal with it. Then again, if that is the case, why not make the dolls available directly to fashion doll collectors through the usual channels? It did not even gain enough press coverage to justify it as a publicity stunt. 

She looks nice though. I love the pleating and sewing of the dress (I guess the snag at the back is just a badly closed zipper) and the shoes look very detailed. It does remind me of the ITBE dresses but it is much better. But again, no jewellery and no bag or other accessories. Her skin tone could be AA black or light honey, it’s hard to tell. With Seduisante Elyse coming this month to W Club members, it will be a battle of dark skinned Elyses! 

Photos courtesy of Net-A-Porter

Christian Siriano shrinks some of his most famous dresses to Barbie’s size

Christian Siriano, probably the only Project Runway alumnus who has made a name for himself, is the latest designer to collaborate with Mattel: he translated some of his most famous dresses in Barbie size. Known for his inclusiveness, he did not shy away from using every available Barbie body type and different skin colours for the dolls wearing his one of a kind creations. The five ensembles are below.

Four of them were worn by famous stars on the red carpet or for a photo shoot, while the fifth one is from one of his latest collections. Let’s check them out one by one.

First Up,is the red number he did for Leslie Jones, when no one else would give her a gown to wear for the Ghostbusters premiere in July 2016. Siriano graciously accepted to dress her and wou can see the real outfit below the doll photo. Pity thatbthe Doll does not have the same jewellery or bag Ms. Jones was wearing. It is an OOAK doll people, pile it on! Jones photo from Elle UK.

Next is a gown worn by Sarah Jessica Parker for a photo shoot with Marie Claire. Boring does not even begin to describe it. She was photographed by Tesh for the US edition in September 2011 and it was also in many international editions of the magazine that Fall, making the cover in South Africa and Hungary. Parker photo from Siriano’s website.

The third dress is again a red carpet appearance. The actress Sarah Hyland wore it at the 2014 Emmy Awards. It reminds me a lot of Mizrahi outfits but without the chutzpah. Hyland photo by Peoples Choice.

The fourth outfit looks like a variation of the previous one, different skirt colour and material. This is the most recent one, from the designer’s 2018:resort collection. Fashion photo courtesy of Christian Siriano.

And last, but not least, anothervred caret outfit. This one was worn by Solange Knowles at a gala during Art Basel 2016. Easily the best of the bunch, both in Doll and human size.

Apart from the Solange outfit, the rest look like something any little girl can do with fabric scraps found at home. No design, no shape, no style. It does not help that the real fashions on which the doll clothes are based are devoid of any kind of style or inspiration themselves. Simplicity is hard to design and even harder to translate to doll size.

All doll photos courtesy of Mattel.