An awesome opportunity to interview Chris Stoeckel about East 59th plus an incredible OOAK Della Roux!

About a week ago, Integrity Toys posted on their Instagram account that they were looking for someone to interview live Chris Stoeckel, the immensely talented designer of East 59th line of dolls, whose latest collection was quite the success! Not only that, they would also give to the person chosen for the job, an incredible OOAK Della Roux doll! I would have entered even without the doll offering, but this was even better. And yes, as most of you already know, I was the one chosen to conduct the interview through the IT Instagram account.

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We had so much fun - I had sent my questions to the company beforehand, to make sure they were OK with them and that the time allotted would be covered. I also made sure that I could ask questions that the people watching would have - and that was even better! Chris told us a lot about his inspiration, his background in design and his growing up in a really diverse family, which is also his main inspiration for East 59th. Many of the dolls have names matching those of dear family members (Della is his mother, Evelyn his grandmother etc). I was lucky enough to guess that Christian Dior, Cristobal Balenciaga and Charles James are his three favourite designers - out of which he picked James as the one being that bit more favourite because he was a tortured artist, living for his passion, i.e. the clothes he created. I did not even notice how fast time passed! There will be a Fall collection for the line, of which the only definite things we know are that it will not be in autumn colours and it will not be holiday themed. There was also a moment when Chris kind of admitted (not directly though) that we are getting an Asian character for the line. He also said he might re-purpose again unused sculpts for new characters. We discovered that Eugenia and Kyori 1.0 are his favourite FR characters. Could we see Kyori 1.0 as the new East 59th character?

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And then the doll: this OOAK Della is so beautiful! I missed the chance to buy the first Della at retail, so getting this OOAK doll is even more incredible for me. Chris has done an outstanding job of making both a beautiful doll, with a lovely fave and hairstyle and also a stunning gown for her to wear. The fabric of the gown is from an actual 1950s dress and the ruffle layers have a total length of three yards! This is one of the reason that this outfit could never be recreated for production. If you check her hands, you will see that the gloves have individual fingers as real ones do, and they are not the typical solution given to production dolls. Chris said he always makes them like this for his OOAK dolls.

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If you want to watch the interview, it is up on the IGTV tab of the Integrity Toys Instagram account here. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Integrity Toys 2019 Convention Day 2: OOAK raffle dolls

Every year the designers of Integrity Toys create some amazing one of a kind doll’s to raffle off during the convention. This year was no exception. As the W Club unfortunately does not sent any email about them, I got some captures from the company’s Instagram stories so that you can check them out. You can see how popular they were with their followers too.

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Third new Tulabelle doll and yes, I can officially say I don’t like her sculpt. In this case, I don’t like the outfit either. Which is a variation of last year’s Style Lab Poppy.

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A colour variation (which is happening a lot in this convention and is, by now, lazy) of the W Club exclusive Midnight Decadence Poppy Parker. Looks nice but it’s frankly boring just seeing one colour variation after another and no new, exciting designs.

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See how gorgeous a new doll design can be? Although new is not exactly a word one can use for a Karl Lagerfeld inspired doll, when Mattel has already done it before you. Still, Noah looks amazing here and I’d probably put all my raffle tickets towards him.

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Beautiful Natalia (Flor means flower in Spanish and Portuguese), with a dress that looks like a flower.

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Imagine handling a company’s social media and mistaking the product names. Nadja, again in a lighter skin tone, with one of those ruffled tulle dresses that have become quite popular lately.

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Evelyn is so beautiful here, with her frothy polka dot gown and red hair. Please make a b&w version of the dress in the East 59th line.

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Victoire embodies the Fire And Ice Revlon ad from 1952, with Dorian Leigh, but with a touch of Allure Monogram. Gorgeous.

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A mess of an outfit. Why is this a Nu.Fantasy? What is the fairytale connection? If anyone knows, please comment on it. I’m guessing the sculpt is a Monogram.

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Compare this to the previous doll. So much better! And it certainly looks like it took a lot of time making the dress, with the flowers and everything.

So, let us know your pick of the raffle dolls in the comments!

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.

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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.”

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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.”

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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.”

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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.”

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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.”

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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.

London Fashion Doll Festival 2019 - day II: the salesroom

The second day of the London Fashion Doll Festival was dedicated to sales. Sellers had booked tables in advance and were in the Summerly Room early Sunday morning to prepare for the day. When I arrived, a little bit after ten, the place was buzzing with excitement. As it was a day open to the public (with tickets), the room was full of people walking among the tables, checking out the dolls and stuff on offer and making their purchases.

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The raffle sale was also on for the draw at the end of the day, benefiting the Children With Cancer UK charity. I got myself an iced coffee and mingled in with the crowd, talking to old and new friends, checking out the lovely dolls on sale and enjoying the atmosphere.

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Navdeep Sikand was there with Mark and of course, Anouk, La Poupée Mannequin! You can see some of his dolls on sale below, they are gorgeous.

Probably the smallest fashion dolls on sale in LFDF 2019 were the Irena Barto dolls. Her latest collection of 9” resin dolls, The First Spring, were on display along with some more of her work.

I was so happy to finally meet the talented Julian Stanislaw Kalinowski in real life and see his amazing ladies up close!

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I spotted a Twiggy doll from the 60s!

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Another creator with exquisite resin dolls on sale was the talented Alessandra Nicolin from Italy. Her dolls are so beautiful!

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The day ended with the raffle of the donated dolls and outfits to benefit the Children With Cancer UK charity - resulting in many happy people going away with awesome wins and the charity receiving £3.420 total along with the OOAK auction on ebay.

We had the chance to find out the theme of next year’s festival, and see the trailer above - it’s Royals! See you in London Fashion Doll Festival 2020!

Pidgin Doll Spring 2019 collection is unveiled!

The Pidgin dolls are created by the extremely talented and wonderful Joshua David McKenney, an artist, sculptor, doll-maker extraordinaire and fashion illustrator. He just released the Spring 2019 collection of Pidgin Doll and here they are in all their glory. (Availability according to the Pidgin website at time of posting). The dolls are 16, all one of a kind and are ball-jointed 1:4 scale, made in resin. You can find their exact measurements in their website. That’s where you can buy them as well. The ones left available of course!

 

Pidgin Doll "Hestia" - available 

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One-of-a-kind “powder pink” resin. Full set includes:

  • Inset brown eyes

  • Baby pink synthetic mohair wig

  • Gold and pink “Maxi” gown

  • Jewelry as shown

  • High heeled feet only

  • Silver “Power Flower” stiletto shoes

$1,200 USD + shipping.

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Pidgin Doll "Elinda" - sold

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One-of-a-kind Pidgin Doll cast in “light mocha” resin. Full set includes:

  • Inset green eyes

  • Silver blond synthetic mohair wig

  • Peach tulle “Maxi” gown

  • Jewelry as shown

  • High heeled feet + flat feet included

  • White stiletto shoes

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Pidgin Doll "Nyx" - available 

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One-of-a-kind Pidgin Doll cast in “Obsidian” resin. Full set includes:

  • Inset green eyes

  • Black synthetic mohair wig

  • Pink and gold “Maxi” gown

  • Jewelry as shown

  • High heeled feet + Flat feet included

  • White stiletto shoes

$1,200 USD + shipping.

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Pidgin Doll "Andromeda" - available 

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One-of-a-kind Pidgin Doll cast in “milk white” resin. Full set includes:

  • Inset heterochromatic eyes (one brown eye + one green eye)

  • Silver blond synthetic mohair wig

  • Peach tulle “Maxi” gown

  • Jewelry as shown

  • High heeled feet + flat feet included

  • White stiletto shoes

$1,200 USD + shipping.

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Pidgin Doll "Blanche" - available 

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One-of-a-kind Pidgin Doll cast in “milk white” resin. Full Set includes:

  • Inset brown eyes

  • Pale lavender synthetic mohair wig

  • Pink brocade “Maxi” gown

  • Pearlized “snow crown”

  • High heeled feet + flat feet included

  • White stiletto shoes

$1,100 USD + shipping.

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Pidgin Doll "Bernadette" - available 

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One-of-a-kind Pidgin Doll cast in “milk white” resin. Full set includes:

  • Inset amber eyes

  • Double “stacked” red synthetic mohair wig.

  • Green brocade “Maxi” gown

  • High heeled feet + flat feet included

  • White stiletto shoes

$1,100 USD + shipping.

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Pidgin Doll "Vivienne" - available 

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One-of-a-kind Pidgin Doll cast in “cocoa” resin. Full set includes:

  • Inset amber eyes

  • Black synthetic mohair wig

  • Pink brocade “Maxi” gown

  • Jewelry as shown

  • High heeled feet + flat feet included

  • White stiletto shoes

$1,100 USD + shipping.

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Pidgin Doll "Chloe" - sold

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One-of-a-kind Pidgin Doll cast in “milk white” resin. Full Set includes:

  • Inset blue eyes with brown flecks

  • Baby pink synthetic mohair wig

  • Pink brocade “Maxi” gown

  • Jewelry as shown

  • High heeled feet + flat feet included

  • White stiletto shoes

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Pidgin Doll "Colette" - available 

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One-of-a-kind Pidgin Doll cast in “light mocha” resin. Full set includes:

  • Inset green eyes

  • Blond synthetic mohair wig

  • Pink & gold “Bow Mini” dress

  • Baby pink faux fur jacket

  • White kitten heel shoes

$950USD + shipping (Full Set)

$710 USD + shipping (Doll + Faceup)

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Pidgin Doll "Samantha" - sold

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One-of-a-kind Pidgin Doll cast in “milk white” resin. Full set includes:

  • Inset blue eyes

  • Black synthetic mohair wig with micro bangs

  • Pink & gold “Bow Mini” dress

  • Jewelry as shown

  • High heeled feet + flat feet included

  • White “Power Flower” stiletto shoes

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Pidgin Doll "Marianne" - sold

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One-of-a-kind Pidgin Doll cast in “light mocha” resin. Full set includes:

  • Inset blue eyes with brown flecks

  • Long black synthetic mohair wig

  • Pink & gold “Bow Mini” dress

  • Black faux fur jacket

  • High heeled feet + flat feet included

  • White stiletto shoes

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Pidgin Doll "Ginger" - available 

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One-of-a-kind Pidgin Doll cast in “Cocoa” resin. Full set includes:

  • Inset green eyes

  • Handmade indigo blue saran wig

  • Pink & gold “Bow Mini” dress

  • Baby pink faux fur jacket

  • Baby pink stockings

  • Silver ballet flats

$970USD + shipping (Full Set)

$710 USD + shipping (Doll + Faceup)

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Pidgin Doll "Veronique" - sold

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One-of-a-kind Pidgin Doll cast in “Light Mocha” resin. Full Set includes:

  • Inset blue eyes

  • Black synthetic mohair wig

  • Holographic “Bubble” dress

  • Jewelry as shown (includes pierced ears)

  • White ankle socks

  • White kitten heel shoes

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Pidgin Doll "Amber" - available 

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One-of-a-kind Pidgin Doll cast in “Milk White” resin. Full set includes:

  • Inset brown eyes

  • Black synthetic mohair wig

  • Pink and black circle glasses

  • Holographic “Bubble” dress

  • Baby pink faux fur jacket

  • Baby pink stockings

  • High heeled feet + flat feet included

  • White stiletto shoes

$950USD + shipping (Full Set)

$710 USD + shipping (Doll + Faceup)

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Pidgin Doll "Mixi" - sold

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One-of-a-kind Pidgin Doll cast in “Light Mocha” resin. Full set includes:

  • Inset blue eyes

  • Black synthetic mohair wig

  • Hot pink heart glasses

  • Holographic bubble” dress

  • Black faux fur coat

  • Black fishnet stockings

  • Black kitten heel shoes

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Pidgin Doll "Jasmine" - available 

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One-of-a-kind Pidgin Doll cast in “Light Mocha” resin. Full Set includes:

  • Inset brown eyes

  • “Wheat blonde” synthetic mohair wig

  • Holographic “Bubble” dress

  • Blue stockings

  • High heeled feet + flat feet included

  • White “Power Flower” stiletto shoes

$950USD + shipping (Full Set)

$710 USD + shipping (Doll + Faceup)

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All photography courtesy of Pidgin Doll and Joshua David McKenney