Tonner at IDEX 2012: Nu Mood in the air

Most doll collectors are eagerly anticipating the IDEX Fair at Orlando, FL this weekend, as it is the place where most doll makers present their collections for 2012. Tonner Dolls is no exception of course. They even organize an event:  “It’s a Whole Nu Mood™!” , the Tonner Collectors Breakfast January 29, 2012 from 8 - 10:00am IDEX, Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld®.  Robert Tonner will introduce highlights of the 2012 collection. Attendees will have the opportunity to win fabulous door prizes and will receive a special, limited-edition 16” souvenir doll from the debut Nu Mood™ collection. We do have a sneak preview of the new collections and, as the blog is fashion doll related, we are mostly sticking to that part of them but not only. So let's see what's on offer. Check with your dealer or directly at the Tonner website for pre-orders and availability.

The big news is the new fashion line and doll body. Nu Mood is the name (reminding me of Nu Face by Integrity) and what the dolls featured in this one share is the many options that their body offers. There are three basic bodies: dance, curvaceous and fashion. All three can have their hands and feet changed into three different types. The feet are dance, flat and fashion (for high heels) and the hands are holding, fist and graceful. The dolls come with only one set of both but there are separate sets of hands or feet available to accommodate all. There are two skin tones, the Tyler (Caucasian) and the Spice (African American) skin tone. Furthermore, some of them are rooted, some with wigs. The line is completed with lots of fashions, accessories and wigs to dress and redress your dolls ad infinitum. 

 

The dance body dolls are three, from left to right: Jess (Cinderella sculpt), Parker (Friday sculpt) and Carrie (Carrie sculpt). Dance body and feet, rooted hair.

 

The fashion body dolls are the mainstays of the Tonner fashion world, Tyler and Sydney. They have saran wigs.

 

The curvaceous body dolls are also two: Paige (spicy skin tone) and Betty (Tyler skin tone) share the body as well as the sculpt (Pin Up). They are wigged dolls and come with their saran wig.

 

There are eight saran wigs to choose from, short, medium and long, sold separately, to change your dolls look. My favourite is the short jagged red one, here shown on Sydney.

Lots of fashions are sold as separates: tops, skirts, pants, all in various colours and styles to add pizazz to your dolls. The colours are black, red, pink and champagne. Below are two combinations I liked, in black (note that all items are sold separately, not as a complete outfit).

The accessories are varied as well, so I picked up my favourite from each category: a bag, a flat shoe, a high heeled shoe and a tiara-and-pointe-shoes set.

 I love the interchangeability of the hands and feet but what I miss is better articulation for feet and torso. I would love the dolls to be able to sit or take poses like a fashion model and the hip and knee joints need a bit more work to do that. But the sheer quantity and choice is amazing. And I imagine there are lots more to come, plus most of older Tonner fashions fit, except maybe for the curvaceous body. In my next post, some of the other dolls previewed in IDEX.

All photos courtesy of Tonner Dolls. Please note: Any design element, including but not limited to fabrics, face painting styles, body styles and/or hair colors may be subject to change during production.  

My best wishes to everyone! Happy Holidays!

Tribute to Loulou De La Falaise, a fashion icon

Sad day for fashion today: Loulou De La Falaise, one of the most elegant women in the world died, age 63. A long time friend and collaborator of Yves Saint-Laurent, she has always been a huge inspiration for me. Her sense of style and fashion was always impeccable and she was a formidable person as well.

I wanted to capture her sense of style and elegance with a doll. I do not have one that looks remotely like her, so I picked one of my Monograms, Magnetism, for her French allure and feel. Picking the outfit, to resemble one of Loulou's iconic photos, was a bit easier. Of course it would not be complete without jewellery: Loulou was a jewellery designer herself, so she always wore lots of them. I tried to get the essence of her style, rather than copycat the photo. You can be the judge of the result. I did a back & white photo, added one in colour (Loulou was incredible in her colour mixes) and the original inspiration below. If you want to read more about Loulou, I wrote a tribute to her in my design blog.

Integrity Jet Set Convention Part IV: Convention Collection

Integrity has finally released the photos of the Jet Set convention collection dolls. These are the dolls available to all attendees to either pre-order or buy directly when attending the convention. Let us see what was in the lot this year.

Vivid Impact Agnes Von Weiss - defined as an event doll, Agnes always makes her appearance at the conventions. This year was no exception. Wearing a purple gown with matching make up and red hair, she is vivid indeed - but no impact whatsoever. I like her bracelet and brooch and that's it. Maybe as Giselle, her colouring would have been more fitting. Her hair is a small mess. Agnes should look poised and super elegant, this one looks like a trophy wife of a new-money eastern European oil czar.

Style Counsel Adèle Makéda and Véronique Perrin Dressed Dolls Gift Set - this gift set was much talked about not only because Adel and Vero are the original FR ladies, but also because Adele had a change of sculpt - for the 3rd time in her life. Each one of her sculpts was different from the others. Seeing this one, I think my favourite is her previous one. Before, she looked very glamorous, the kind of girl who could be a Hollywood star  or a pop music icon (Beyonce and Grace Jones) or a super model (Naomi), Now she looks more like Dominique - and I do not mean this as a compliment. She looks more latina than black to me. Maybe it is the screening and hair. I will wait for her next versions to see how she evolves. And her outfit reminds me of Spotted In The Park Gene. Veronique is boring here. Cute, beautiful but boring. And chains for belts? How un-fashionable right now.

Mission Control Imogen - she looks like Poppy Parker's older cousin. Her outfit looks like a half-baked flight attendant's uniform. Too many colours in one outfit for my taste - colour blocking is a tricky thing to accomplish. The doll is cute though.

High Toned Rayna - she was one of the most anticipated dolls of the convention, since her first incarnation as a post-modern Dorothy from Oz was first presented a while ago. There is nothing in this doll I really like but her sculpt - and that is ruined by her dreadful make up. I never liked pink on eyelids and here is the reason why. Worst part: the boots. 

Brightness Calls Isha - this could have been a lovely version of Isha. Her hair does look great, her outfit could have been gorgeous (minus the embroidery and a bit of skirt length). But then they slap her with that hideous make up. Why? Poor Bollywood star. Why don't they look to any contemporary Bollywood lady for inspiration?

Simply Simpatico Poppy Parker and Darla Daley giftset - Poppy is very popular, and paired with Darla they make for a smashing duo. Darla has a new sculpt - the old one was accidentally destroyed a the production factory so they had to make her a new one. She looks less cartoon-y now, which is good. I love her styling here, the men style looks good on her, although it hints more to the early 70s than late 60s. Poppy is cute like a school girl in her uniform. I love her face here.

FR2 Most Wanted Elise Jolie - I think her name fits her like a glove. The doll looks gorgeous (even though her sculpt is not a favourite with me), her gown is glamorous (still it could have been better draped) and her accessories fantastic. Elise along with Agnes are the only ones looking like they justify the term Jet Set. 

Overall this collection disappointed me. I was expecting more glam, more elements to fit the Jet Set concept: dolls looking like a million bucks ready to travel, with luggage, scarves and sunglasses and bags and hats and a dog for the day outfits, glamorous satin and silk frothy gowns for the evening outfits. If I was attending the convention, I would have gladly bought Elize and the Poppy/Darla giftset and maybe Imogen (giving the outfit away).

Photos are copyright of Integrity Toys, Inc.

Tokidoki Barbie upsets parents in the US!

Matell released a few days ago a Collector's Barbie named Tokidoki. She is designed by Simone Legno of Tokidoki, a "liefstyle" company from Italy (funded by the Hard Candy make up brand owners from USA), with obvious Japanese influences. She is wearing a pink miniskirt, logo leggings and black top with signature skull heart and bones, carries a large bag from the brand, and accessorized with bracelets, a belt, and sky-high sparkly silvery shoes. The doll features trendy tattoos on her body (non-removable save using acetone) and a pink bob. She is also accompanied by her cactus friend, Bastardino (mongrel in Italian). Considered very trendy (bleh), she was a favourite of Barbie collectors everywhere.

You must have noticed that I rarely write about Barbie doll releases, unless they are something special (like the Pantone Barbie in the previous post). So why this one, since I do not even like her styling? Because she managed, in just a week, to become the bane of many parents in the US, even though she is not a toy. Mattel clearly sells her as a collector's doll, she's a Gold Label doll with no more than 7.400 dolls produced.  She even has a price tag of US$50, which makes her unavailable to most children. Still, many news outlets, from doll blogs, fashion blogs, twitter and even major fashion publications like Allure and news outfits like L.A. Times and CNN keep on reporting about parent's supposedly irate reactions to the doll.

The give-me-a-scandal-any-day UK newspaper Daily Mail even gets it all wrong as they mention that the doll is marketed to children. Sorry guys, get your facts right. Barbie Collector Dolls are for adult collectors and are not to be sold to anyone under 14 (written on the back of all Barbie Collector boxes). But who reads the fine print when they want to create controversy? Of course the doll is not only sold out (more are to be released in mid November from what I read) but her price in the secondary market has quadrupled.