Best Dressed Dolls: Jeffrey Kalinsky’s Big Charity Event With Miniature Designer Looks

When Jeffrey Kalinsky began contemplating how best to mark the tenth anniversary of Jeffrey, his high-fashion store in the Meatpacking District, he knew he wanted to do something special. Not just a big party but something unique, a project that all the designers featured in the shop—a roster of virtually every big name from Stella McCartney to Dries Van Noten, Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz to Phoebe Philo of Céline, Narciso Rodriguez to L’Wren Scott, Raf Simons to Miuccia Prada—could get involved with. And of course it would also have to support AIDS and breast cancer charities, causes that the retailer has championed for years. Something lovers of fashion couldn’t live without! Something designers could really have fun with!

Outfit by Jason Wu

So he called on Jason Wu, lately famous for dressing Michelle Obama in a one-shouldered chiffon Inaugural gown, but before that the go-to guy for fashion dolls. Together they decided to ask designers to dress dolls in miniature versions of their signature ensembles, and then Jeffrey would auction them off to benefit his favourite causes.

Outfits by Rick Owens

Almost 70 designers readily agreed. Jeffrey sent them the dolls, and in rapid order they returned the miniature mannequins resplendent in all the hallmarks of the season—peaked, pinched shoulders from Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy, sexy slashed hemlines courtesy of Christophe Decarnin at Balmain, a pint-size suede maxi over a chiffon frock by Christopher Bailey at Burberry, a tiny Proenza Schouler fan sporting her own teeny-weeny purple PS1 handbag .

Outfit by Oscar De La Renta

Great care has been taken to attire these diminutive fashion plates in the looks of the season—in fact, viewing them gives you a crash course in high style circa fall 2009. On August 10, the dolls will be unveiled in their own area of the store in an installation that Kalinsky promises will evoke a dramatically scaled-down Jeffrey, with foot-high shoppers clad in Rodarte and de la Renta, Margiela and Mizrahi, strolling and lolling.

Outfit by Marni

Warning: You will want them all. Kalinsky expects the bidding to be quite swift (the starting bid is set at $250; call Jeffrey New York at 212-206-1272 for more information), especially during Fashion’s Night Out, the multi-city retail extravaganza planned for September 10, during Fashion Week, when virtually every chic shop is staying up late and hosting special events. The auction will close on the last day of Fashion Week, at which time, if you are very lucky, an exquisite little man resplendent in Thom Browne or Gucci and his equally itsy-bitsy consort in Rick Owens or RM by Roland Mouret will depart Jeffrey and come to live on a shelf in your house.

Set and outfit by Lanvin

Outfit and bag by Proenza Schouler

Outfits by YSL by Stefano Pilatti

Outfit by Balmain

Outfit by Chris Kane

(re-post from Style.com - photos courtesy of Style.com by Brian Fee)

I love the outfits and the dolls, just one minor complaint: couldn't they have hired a better photographer? Sorry Brian but your doll photography sucks big time.

My dolls in Haute Couture: a photoshoot for Grazia India magazine!

A while ago the editor of Grazia India, Nadnini Bhalla contacted me about doing a photoshoot with my fashion dolls for the magazine, with them wearing miniature outfits created by Indian fashion designers. She said she loved my Vogue mock up covers and wanted to make something in that context for the photoshoot. Of course I agreed and started planning the whole thing. After a while, the outfists arrived. Opening the garment bag of each one was a surprise: the worksmanship was incredible. The designers, with only a basic pattern to help them had made miniature miracles. Some of the outfits had miniscule accessories with them, which made them even more incredible.

Turmeric sequin ball gown and gloves, Lecoanet Hemant

Not all the outfits were made in the exact doll sizes I had provided. Some were too big or too small to fit on either 12" dolls or 16" dolls. But with the help of pins and proper posing, all of them were finally photographed by me with my dolls wearing them. From a huge number of photos, I picked soem and sent them over to have the magazine editors finalize the selection and layout. When this was done, it was ready for printing. The issue was out in May and it was a huge 12-page spread exclusive. I am publishing the results here and hope you like them! In future posts, I will feature each and every dress seperately, with facts about the designer, the specific dress and also photos of the original outfit on the runway. Enjoy!

Jumpsuit, Raakesh Agarvwal; Bubble-hem dress, Sitara By Manjaree; Bambino-print maxi, Kallol Dutta

Bubble-hem dress, Sitara By Manjaree

Ombre pleated gown, Nachiket Barve

Ruched Dress with circuitry sleeve, Prashant Verma

I would also like to thanks Nandini Bhalla (senior editor), Nidhi Jacob (editor) and Rajni Phatak (accounts) for their incredible help and collaboration and coordination of this dream project! Grazia India is in great hands!

Lame origami gown, Varun Sardana; Lime one-shouldered maxi, Gauri and Nainika

Ball gown with rosette train, Preeti Chandra

Sheer knotted dresses, Anuj Sharma

Tie-dye sleeveless jacket and top over satin pants, Savio Jon

Sequin strapless dress, Namrata Joshipura

Textured prom dress, Alpana and Neeraj

The shoot was also published in an indian blog about fashion, High Heel Confidential. The photos below of the magazine pages scanned are from that blog as I still have not received the magazine to scan them myself.

All photographs for Grazia are not to be published in any other form, in print or electronically without permission from the magazine and me. Photos published by special permission of Grazia Magazine.

2009 Life Ball Doll Designed by Jason Wu

Jason Wu has designed the Official 2009 Life Ball doll. Created specifically to benefit the 2009 Life Ball, this gorgeous collectible marks the début of Integrity Toys' new FR Monogram™ collection. An extension of the Fashion Royalty collectible line, the FR Monogram collection features a new custom face sculpt (body is the same size as the Nu.Face body), as well as the hallmark of Fashion Royalty - miniaturized couture fashion with impeccable attention to detail.

Photo of actual gown from Jason Wu's Fall 2008 runway show

Many of you have been waiting for another Jason Wu women's collection fashion to be miniaturized and your wait is over! The 2009 Life Ball Doll wears a replica of a chic evening gown from Jason's romantic Fall 2008 women's fashion collection. The gown is constructed from custom-printed fabric in a floral pattern that has been realized in perfect miniature.

100% of the net proceeds from the sales of the 2009 Life Ball Fashion Doll by Jason Wu will be donated to Life Ball. Purchasers of these gorgeous limited edition collectible dolls will help support people infected with HIV and AIDS and support HIV and AIDS treatment, research and prevention.

For more information regarding Life Ball, please visit: www.lifeball.org

The 2009 Official Life Ball doll is limited to 250 dolls worldwide and retails for $270. To get a chance to buy this doll, you have to enter a lottery for it. For more information check Integrity's website.All pictures are copyrighted by Integrity Toys and are published with their consent. They are not to be used for any for commercial purposes such as ebay or to sell the any of the dolls. I am not affiliated in any way with Integrity Toys.

Fashion Royalty: Bewitching Hour Luchia - how fast can you say Madonna?

In late 2008, Integrity's high end doll line, Fashion Royalty (by Jason Wu, the designer that made US First Lady's Michelle Obama Inaugural Ball dress as well as the one she is wearing on the US Vogue March 2009 cover) gave the W Club it's second doll, Bewitching Hour Luchia. Upon seeing the pre-release photos, almost everyone agreed that she was channelling Madonna's current style. When the dolls started arriving and actual doll photos started to circulate, the impression was even stronger. Luchia was never my cup of tea - she has Isha's sculpt but a Caucasian skin tone (Isha is Indian) and I did not like that one either (have only one in my collection so far). But this re-incarnation was perfection: great skin tone, perfect make up, gorgeous outfit.

The actual doll looks even better than the prototype photos. Only the hair seems a bit stiffer (especially the top part) but that is something that can be corrected - making her in fact look more like Madonna. The resemblance is uncanny, as if the sculpt was made with her in mind. The outfit she comes in is breathtaking: a black coat with big lapels (they could have been just a bit smaller to have perfect proportions) fastened with a corset like belt at the waist, that comes over a salmon pink strapless mini dress, black leather gloves, gladiator knee high boots, black stud earrings and a chain and cross bracelet. Despite the black coat, no staining was found - and none was reported by other people that received the doll.

The corset belt is decorated with studs and ties in the back with silk ribbons. The faux leather is elastic, so that makes it easier to use it. The detail is amazing and I can see this accessory matching with many other outfits. Cannot wait to see this over a white shirt.

The make up is gorgeous. Her skin tone is not the usual Luchia one, but a slightly pinker tone than her usual porcelain skin - FR called it Blush. She has prominent black eye liner, skin tone eye shadow (it IS there, just a bit shiny on the upper lids) and a brown line in her eyelid crease. Brown eye brows frame her blue eyes perfectly. The blushing on her cheeks is perfect - barely there and looking very realistic. Her lips are painted a slightly darker pink than her skin, with a wee touch of gloss, finishing the neutral look in just the right way. Nails both on hands and feet are french manicured.

The detail of the bracelet is amazing. Chrome chain and matching coin-shaped medallions, with two crosses adding the Goth touch. The faux leather gloves are elastic and slip on the hands effortlessly. Their creasing is amazing, adding to the realistic look.

The gladiator boots are incredible. The faux leather ribbons are scaled perfectly, zipping up at the back so that the boots come on the legs easily. The buckles add to the effect and they have platforms too, making the doll stand slightly higher than usual. Female Darth Vader eh?

The pink dress underneath is strapless and micro mini. The top is ruched (micro-pleated according to FR) but this is the only detail that makes it special. It is good but not amazing. It does look like something Madonna would wear in the 4 minutes video clip, so it adds to the overall Madonna effect. This doll is one of the best releases of Fashion Royalty. I hope they keep releasing more like this.

The Best Hollywood Dolls of 2008

Joan Crawford put us in a Hollywood mood, the Oscars® are just around the corner, so what better than an awards ceremony? Charlino from the Vikisfinds Yahoo forum, which is about artistic dolls and OOAK dolls, gives us the equivalent of Oscars for the dolls that are made to resemble Hollywood stars. There are many artists out there that painstakingly recreate the likenesses of film stars on their favourite dolls, some with amazing success.And although doll companies do produce dolls authorized to look like actors from certain films or series, there is no comparison with a well painted OOAK doll. So go vote at the website created just for this - no registration needed. Just look at the many dolls nominated (the list is longer than the Oscars!) and cast your ballot! Below you can see a selection of the nominees - there are many more equally beautiful on the website, so go go go!!!

The brilliant Carrie Fischer as Princess Leia repaint by Laurie Leigh

The exquisite Joker - Heath Ledger, by Kmiro Creations

An amazing Angelina Jolie by Kristen

Rebecca Romijn by Isabella

Daniel Craig by Noel Cruz, whose doll, Deborah Kerr won last year.

Angelina Jolie must be the most popular star to make - here is another one by Noel Cruz.

All photos courtesy of the respective artists and/or their owners.