Thanos Samaras is a Greek actor and avid doll collector. He is also an amazing artist. His video for the 2008 Blythe Beauty Contest, taking place annually in Tokyo, which you can see below, is incredible. More please Thanos! And here is the official Blythe site.
Vogue cover - Black & White
All the major ladies of the FR fashion universe converge on this Vogue fold-out cover! Inspired by this one! I hope you enjoy it! Wonder how long could the ladies last all together in the studio before catfights broke out!
Click on the pic to see a bigger version - the names of the ladies are on the right side of the photo!
Update: the photo got the Picture of the week Award from Terri's Collecting Fashion Dolls blog! Thank you Terri for the honour!
Click on the pic to see a bigger version - the names of the ladies are on the right side of the photo!
Update: the photo got the Picture of the week Award from Terri's Collecting Fashion Dolls blog! Thank you Terri for the honour!
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 WuSo 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 OwensAlmost 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 RentaGreat 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 MarniWarning: 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 KaneI 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 showMany 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.