Meet the Artist: Pornchewin Malipunte and Kittimavadee Malipunte - part 2

Here is part 2 of my interview with the talented Chewin and his sister:

FDC: Who is your fashion icon?
Chewin: No one is my fashion icon. Any fashions attract me that are suited for dolls. I can re-sketch or redesign some parts before making. Some fashions are fascinating when people wear them but look so clumsy when they’re on the dolls.

Tonner Matt as Vampire by Chewin

FDC: What is your favorite doll to work/design for?
Chewin: Matt O’Neil is my favorite doll to work for, because the proportion of Matt is not too big or too small though his figure is not as perfect as FR Hommes. But after dressing him in fashions, everyone can imagine that he looks great as a supermodel or any kind of people we wish him to be.

Tonner Matt as a bad boy, by Chewin

FDC: What is your favorite doll sculpt to re-paint? Is there a least favorite one?
Chewin: I think the majority of doll repaint artists prefer working on Tonner Dolls because this company manufactures such a large variety of different doll faces. Also the detail that goes into each and every doll face is rather perfect. Finally the size of head is easy to hold which make the repainting process very smooth and easy. I like the face of Daphne and Angelina, they have a perfect detail on their face, but I don’t like Betty Ann and Osmopolitan, I think their facial shapes are a little too big.

Tonner Matt as Supermodel Marcus, by Chewin

FDC: What is your all-time favorite doll?
Chewin: My all time favorite doll is the Kotalin or Elizabeth dolls which are created by Jozef Szekeres. I feel he does exceptional work creating doll clothing and is very skillful at Fine Art as well.

Elizabeth doll by Jozef Szekeres

FDC: Do you try new techniques on spare dolls before changing a new one or do you just 'go for it', so to speak?
Chewin: Yes, I always like to experiment and try new techniques on my repainted doll such as oils, acrylic, airbrush or pastel etc. Before I apply my new techniques, I always work with a spare doll first, to see the effect after repainting and to discover any changes that may need to be made in order to create perfection.

One of the most beautiful FR Homme repaints of Chewin

FDC: What is your most favorite fabric/material to work with and what is your least favorite fabric/material to work with?
Chewin: The fabric that is used for creating doll clothing is sometimes different from the materials we wear. There are specific materials that are best for 16-17” dolls but not suitable for 12-13” dolls. In regards to the type of fabric, I prefer using Thai silk, wool or jeans and I don’t like making outfits with leather or velvet.

A lovely outfit for Tonner Matt, shirt and pants in Thai silk, by Chewin.

A lovely ladies fashion by Chewin,
worn by the gorgeous FR Glam Slam Kyori,
on a taller FR body. Notice the detail and quality
of the Malipunte siblings' work.

This is the end of part 2 of the interview. Next post will be the 3rd and final part.

Photo credits: all photos in this post courtesy of Pornchewin Malipunte except the Kyori Sato photograph, courtesy of Stratos Bacalis.

Meet the Artist: Pornchewin Malipunte and Kittimavadee Malipunte - part 1

Apart from factory dolls, there is a big part of doll collecting that involves re-painted dolls and handmade fashions, either one of a kind or produced in multiple copies. So I decided to feature those talented artists on my blog too, to find out more about their passion, their talent and share tips with you.
I am really honored and proud to be able to present to you the very talented duo of brother and sister, Pornchewin Malipunte and Kittimavadee Malipunte. Chewin, as he is better known, is just becoming known to more people in the doll collecting scene. His attractive re-paints of male and female dolls and his wonderful fashions have people talking with admiration on the doll boards. So here is the first part of an interview with him:

Chewin and his sister Kittimavadee
He is holding a Claire CED doll.

FDC: How did you discover fashion dolls?
Chewin: I started to develop a strong passion and love for art since I was around 6 years old. Art has always been such an important part of my life. I graduated from University with a Bachelor’s Degree of Fine Arts and M.A. in Art History. Also, I love collecting a variety of different dolls and modifying to have a new fashion, and new facial features. This passion runs in my family. Since a young age, my sister, Kittimavadee Malipunte also developed a love and passion for making outfits for dolls. While growing up, we both started collecting dolls from many companies such as Barbie, Madame Alexander, Tonner, Fashion Royalty, Diva Doll, Sybarite and Super Dollfie etc.

Chewin's watercolor painting. A similar one graces his business cards.

Also, I have many friends who share the same passion for collecting dolls as I do. We would make the outfits for many different types of dolls and sell them to doll stores for only a short period of time. Then after seeing some doll designers from Thailand selling their work worldwide at the auction on the e-bay website, we started to get some new ideas on how we can sell our products to customers that not only live in Thailand, but may live on the other side of the world as well. This posed a few challenges for me, so I asked my sister if she would be willing to make the outfits for the dolls we sell. She agreed to participate which was such a relief! We prefer to create the outfits for male dolls because they are not commonly seen on e bay auctions. And then our first fashion design for Matt O’Neil was shown on e-bay and we were very proud for this to happen.

First fashion for Matt from Chewin on ebay.

FDC:Which came first-clothes making or doll re-painting?
Chewin: In Thailand, I worked on repainting the dolls first. But when I had to prepare the dolls before showcasing them on e bay, we had to work on the fashion aspect first.

FDC:When did you first start selling your dolls/clothes?
Chewin: I started selling doll fashions in the year 2005, and I began repainting dolls in the years 2006.

A Matt O'Neil Tonner re-paint by Chewin.
His name is Evandro

FDC: Did you encounter any obstacles before selling/marketing your dolls/clothes?
Chewin: One of the biggest obstacles for me is trying to meet the needs of the collectors. Most collectors prefer collecting female dolls as opposed to male dolls. So the demand for male doll outfits is very low. Also, when I showcase my dolls on e-bay, I have to wait for the potential costumer’s feedback on whether or not they are interested in purchasing the product. Their feedback helps explain our products in much more detail, which is actually a much better description than the one I provide on the selling page.

Chewin designs clothes for female dolls too
Here a color variant of one of his outfits made for me,
on my Obsidian Society Vanessa Perrin

FDC: Where do you usually sell your dolls/clothing?
Chewin: In the past, I was granted permission to sell the clothing for, and repaint certain types of dolls for Barbie and Tonner here in Bangkok, Thailand. I no longer work on those products because collectors seem to have turned their interests onto Momoko and Pullip dolls instead. This is why I turned to starting my own business on e bay.

One of Chewin's creations on a Sybarite doll.

FDC: What inspires you? Where do you find inspiration for your designs?
Chewin: My inspiration comes from a variety of things that are around me. For example, I am inspired by looking through fashion magazines, watching fashion shows on T.V., movies or even the different types of clothes that people wear around me. For doll repainting, movie stars, super-models, musicians and using my own imagination are all things that inspire me.

Chewin's amazing repaint of Tonner's Peter Parker to look more like Toby McGuire.

FDC: How long does it usually take from conception to completion for any doll/outfit?
Chewin: There is no specific or set time when it comes to completing clothing for a doll. Each item of clothing takes a different amount of time to complete. Some can be finished in half a day, while others may take 1, 2 or even three days to fully complete. For doll repainting, that process can be finished in roughly 5-8 hours depending on how much detail is needed. Men dolls are usually much more difficult to complete than women dolls because you have to avoid any detail points that resemble female, such as the eyes, eyebrows, mouth and hair style. For me, to have the opportunity to remake a doll with news looks from the original paint is perfect.

This is the end of part 1 of my interview with Chewin. It will continue in the next post, with more photos of his amazing work.

Photo credits: Photos of Chewin and his sister, his painting, first matt fashion, Tonner re-paint, Sybarite and Peter Parker all courtesy of Pronchewin Malipunte. Obsidian Society Vanessa photo courtesy of Stratos Bacalis.

Tonner: Melanie from Gone With The Wind

Tonner has the license for Gone With The Wind dolls for some time now. They released the first pictures this summer, to much dismay from collectors. That was due to the fact that the Scarlett O'Hara sculpt did not meet expectations. After all, it had to confront the successful and much applauded Franklin Mint doll, which looks particularly like Vivien Leigh, the actress that immortalized the heroine.



It was easier with Melanie Hamilton, which is the first doll to be released from the series. They did not secure the rights to portray Olivia De Havilland (the dolls are to be tied-in with the film), so they had free reign for the sculpt. The result: a very good and unusual doll face, realistic looking and very convincing as Melanie.



Her face is nicely sculpted, with a kind and thoughtful expression (thankfully not that pity-me look the actress had in the film at many times). The only drawback here is the make up: her red lipstick and blush as well as the eye shadow are too accented for the era and the character the doll portrays.



Her hairdo is a lovely knot at the back of the head, with a center part and hair gathered at the sides and pulled under the knot. It fits perfectly with the film's style and the character. Her hair color is a lovely shade of brown, not dark but not light either. She has a hat on that looks like a cross between a hat and a snood. It does not look much like the snood the actress was wearing in the film - first the doll's hat:



And this is a scene from the film with it:



The costume is the one Mellie is wearing at Scarlett's wedding: light blue silk, with applied diamond motifs on the skirt, a big v-neckline with a bow and a lace trim, short puffed sleeves with lace trim. The dress is fully lined in white. It closes with snaps at the back, which is not very appropriate for the style of dress and the era, but makes things easier for some people. It is a faithful reproduction of the film costume and looks very impressive-the volume the skirt has is huge:



And this is a photo from the film:



Here is a close up of the diamond motif:




The skirt of course has to have the proper support. I was wondering what Tonner would put under the skirt, as Franklin Mint's crinolines did not get anything more than a tulle skirt (and out of scale fabric too) with a wire near the hem, which is notorious for it's lack of cooperation. Here, Tonner pulls out all the stops: we get 2 (actually 2 and a half) skirts under the dress. And of course pantalets and stockings for underwear as was proper at the time (unfortunately no corset with this outfit under the bodice, although it looks like it can have one and still button up without problem). Here are the pantalets and stockings:



Over the pantalets is a nice underskirt with wire hoops sewn in - three of them. It is made of cotton. The bottom wire hoop did seem to have a mind of its own and turned up a bit.



Over the hoop skirt is another under skirt made of satin and tulle (hence the 2 and a half layers: one is the hoop skirt, one and a half is the satin and tulle one). The satin is trimmed with lace at the hem and the tulle is in ruffled tiers sewn over the satin. It looks great and adds to the look of the undergarments, not to mention the volume of the skirt:



Here is the lace trim detail:



The whole system works very well under the dress and it gives its skirt a huge volume, looking very faithful to the era. The accessories are fantastic too - the shoes are to die for:



She has a lovely point d'esprit lace shawl - here is a detail:



And of course she has short white gloves like a proper lady at that time would.



The worst thing is the stand: the doll comes with the infamous circular wire stand that has all of the Tonner collectors in fits. In this case it is more inappropriate as it cannot hold the doll in its place for too long due to volume and weight, plus it makes the skirt seem a bit puffed near the waist. I cannot understand how Tonner could make such a blunder and not have the newer saddle stand included with this doll. Here is a back view of the doll:



She comes in a huge green box with gold letters on it. The box is not very sturdy, probably because of weight issues, but it holds well. The doll is very good in general, and if some details were taken care of, she would be excellent. Of course, the stand makes the whole experience of having her too painful (mine has fallen countless times already and now stands on Shinyuu Mina's new saddle stand.

Fashion Royalty: Darius Reid - High And Mighty

The first male fashion doll I am presenting is the latest release from Jason Wu's Fashion Royalty Cult Couture collection: High And Mighty Darius Reid. He is an African-American male doll, the third man to be added to the FR Homme Collection (the other two are Pierre De Vries and Francisco Leon). his story card is the first to be read only on-line- the one in the box does not have the usual text printed on it.

Darius has the face sculpt of an older Integrity play line male doll, Tariq. The body is the standard FR Homme body, tall and lithe, with articulation at the neck, chest, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and knees. FR Homme dolls still do not have articulated waists, but that might be due to the fact that it gives them a better looking "six pack"! Best part of the body, apart from the aforementioned abdomen, are the hands - they even have veins!

His face paint is done very well, he has a strong and firm look. His eyes are very well designed, probably the best made eyes in the FR Homme series up to now. He has no hair, sporting the shaven head look favoured by so many African American men. It also gives him versatility, because it means he can easily wear wigs. His skin colour is a dark chocolate brown, lighter than Nadja R but darker than Adele Makeda.

His wardrobe is exceptional for the most part. He is wearing a lovely coat, supposedly velvet (FR description) but in reality it feels like felt. It has "satin" lapels and it is very well tailored (lined too), with a false single button (it has a hook and eye to close). Under this, he has pinstripe flat front pants with vertical side pockets (but no belt, a major faux pas here), a vest from the same material, which is very well made too (the satin of the back is to die for) and the white shirt we have seen before on FR men - they could have given him a purple or fuchsia shirt, or even a copper coloured one, he would have looked more edgy.

The fun part are the accessories though. He has a fedora, a flocked thin plastic moulded hat with a "silver" chain in place of the classic ribbon. It is the worst part of the outfit and it looks unnaturally cheap compared to the rest of the ensemble. Given the success of FR in making extremely good and detailed accessories, this one seems neglected. There are sunglasses - these have the same lenses as other FR sunglasses but the arms are a whole different story: sculpted to look like entwined serpents, they give the edge this doll demands. The best FR sunglasses I have seen. Darius is wearing black socks and white sneakers, nothing special there.

His jewellery is very well executed: he sports a big "silver" shark tooth at the end of a chain and a lovely "stainless steel" watch that has a secure fastening and looks very good. It is easy to put on and does not look fragile at all, contrary to the one Pierre was wearing last year. The prototype doll had a golden watch on it, which had struck me as odd, considering the rest of the accessories had "silver" tones. Luckily they corrected it on the final product. I hope they improve the hat the same way next year. See the watch below up close:

Here you can check the hat, sunglasses and pendant:

And here are the shoes - they are plain with the ends of laces inside-makes them easier to put on:

Darius is very handsome and suave. He gives the FR ladies a run for their money. With the proper accessories and outfits, he could turn out to be one of the best and most sought after FR dolls. I cannot wait to see what Jason Wu has in store for him next.

Darius is a limited edition of 800 dolls worldwide.

The missing Vogue cover...

I have been wanting to do this for quite a while. A photo shoot inspired by the multi-model covers of Vogue, like the one last May (which I want to duplicate sometime in the future). So here are some Fashion Royalty and NU Face ladies, posing for your pleasure, on the August Vogue cover that was mysteriously ditched at the very last minute for unknown reasons...and got replaced by one with someone named Winona...tsk, tsk.

The models are, from left to right-standing: Nadja Rhymes (Missima model), Baroness Agnes Von Weiss (heiress, fashion entrepreneur), Kyori Sato (Creative Director at Missima). Seated, left to right: Natalia Fatalé (former director of Missima) and Adèle Makeda (W model). All styling by Stratos, outfits and accessories by Jason Wu except Natalia's dress and accessories from Givenchy Audrey Hepburn by Mattel. Make up on Adèle by W Cosmetics, Natalia's by Revlon, all other ladies by Missima.

Vogue logo courtesy of Conde Nast Inc.