Jason Wu 10th anniversary collection new Elyse doll exclusively for Net-A-Porter

Jason Wu is releasing a very special collection of dolls this year to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his human-sized clothing line.  Each doll is done in an ultra-limited edition of 200 dolls per look, and features the "Elyse Jolie™" sculpt- one that Jason has called his miniature "muse". They are on the Fashion Royalty FR 6.0 body, wearing replicas of a variety of fashions from past collections.  These dolls are being distributed by Jason's company in conjunction with various retailers and, as such, neither the W Club nor Integrity are involved in the distribution in any way. If you remember, the first doll of the line, La Vie En Bleu Elyse, was the one made for Integrity Toys 2016 Convention attendees (blonde version) and the W Club members via lottery (redhead version) way back at the beginning of the year.

The first retailer to have a doll was Net-A-Porter: https://www.net-a-porter.com. Net-A-Porter has different websites for different regions, including North America, Europe and Asia/Pacific, and they split their limited quantities (200 dolls) amongst those sites. The look is from Jason’s Spring Summer 2012 collection, seen below on the runway. Doll retailed for US$ 225.00.

Jason Wu S/S 2012, from Vogue Runway, photo Alessandro Garofalo, gorunway.com 

The retailer said their VIP customers that have personal shoppers were able to pre-order the doll through the personal shopper and preview the doll early. For everyone else, the dolls went live early in the morning on October 13th. For their European or "International" site, the dolls were up at approximately 6 am UK time on 10/13. For their North America site, 6am ET on the 13th and for the Asia/Pacific site, 5 am Hong Kong time on the 13th. They ship to 190 different countries. The dolls sold out in minutes.

Here is the text from the retailer’s website: “Before he began his career in fashion, Jason Wu worked for 10 years as a toy designer. This limited edition doll is created with high-end specialists Integrity Toys and dressed in an acid-bright chartreuse gown from Wu's Spring '12 runway show. Fully posable with a display stand, this exquisitely detailed collector's item has glossy patent sandals, long eyelashes and coordinating red lips and nails”.

While I’m really liking the doll (like Fine Print Elyse with her hair down), the dress is not wow, even though the colour is a favourite. The double layering leaves something to be desired as the bottom layer is not ruffled as the top, making it look unfinished. Same goes with the ruffle itself, which does not transfer well to this scale. The only accessories are her shoes nice but we have seen them before), belt and earrings (great). 

I guess she was made not only to channel the exact Wu Fashion but to also appeal to buyers outside the fashion doll collecting community. The stiff poses of the photos (the first one, posing more naturally, was from the club email and not the retailer’s site, so I’m guessing that one is an Integrity Toys photo while the rest are Net-A-Porter), few accessories, no fuss dress and accessories (I bet the shoes will be on the doll) make it look that way. 200 dolls for a worldwide retailer. Not easy to get. 

Love her close up but someone forgot to fix the stray hair.

Am I the only one seeing bad sewing here?

Great shoes, I hope they are already on the doll to help non doll collecting buyers.

First photo and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2017 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission. The W Club is a trademark of Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC. All rights reserved. Doll Photography (first photo) by Jayme Thornton and/or Alain Tremblay Layouts, Graphics and 3D renderings by Alain Tremblay, Marketing. Doll photos from Net-A-Porter.

Superdoll’s Gibraltar: an ode to John Galliano

On the 28th of September, Superdoll London unleashed the gorgeous Gibraltar on their customers. As usual, the doll sold out quite soon. And how could it be any different? She is one of the most beautiful Sybarites released this year. Her outfit and styling are a direct tribute to John Galliano and his Dior Couture collections of 1997, both Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter. To me it looks like a combination of two gowns: the Masai inspired black gown from his S/S 1997 Christian Dior Haute Couture collection and the peacock gown from his Belle Époque inspired F/W 1997-98 Christian Dior Haute Couture collection. The hairstyle of the doll even comes from the last one. And the name of the doll? The place where John Galliano was born.

​The description from the Superdoll website.

Venus is fabulous as could be in her strelitzia Extravaganza, a late night rendezvous calls for coiffure, blossoms and very high heels.She is probably not paying attention to anyone other than herself this evening!
From the top. A gorgeous headpiece of banana yellow guipure asymmetrically sprouts from her flaming blunt red banged wig. A statement just as we get started ...fabulous!
Her eyeshadows in the spectrum of shocking green and smoke surround her eyes of translucent pistachio and blind fern with lids of unripened vanilla. Lips of fluorescent coral Macaw and beyond.
Her 1 piece frock; an ode and a nod; in electric blue sinuous silk satin custom printed with deconstructed strelitzia embellished in laser organza petals and piece d' resistance..... a beaded Massaii corset finished with a flourish of jungle bouquet. Probably not something you would wear for pre rendezvous cocktails.. unless you were a D'Royce; of course.
Venus loves twilight and loves nothing more than oozing around in skin tight satin as the moon comes out.
Always accessorised to the twenty sevens, Venus has a discreet electric blue clutch trimmed in stuff that matches her corset, opera length gloves in almost not there yellow illusion tulle, and totally uncomfortable stiletto heeled courts in magical 'just the right' blue.
Huge inspired gilt bracelets are her final accessory!
Venus knows once the beats start beating she's gonna shimmy all night long.
Could someone please hand her, her sunglasses?

Doll characteristics:
Clone: 1000 Venus d'Royce
Skintone: COSMETIQUE
She comes with the following standard accessories:
-manic_cure hands (see booklet for hand change instructions)
-booklet
-stand
PRODUCTION MAY VARY FROM PROTOTYPE SHOWN.
Price: £279.75 (Excluding VAT at 20%)

And now let’s see the inspirations... 

John Galliano for Christian Dior, Haute Couture Spring/Summer 1997, photo by Annie Leibovitz for US Vogue. 

John Galliano for Christian Dior, Haute Couture Fall/Winter 1997-98, photo by Peter Lindbergh for US Vogue.  

Christian Siriano shrinks some of his most famous dresses to Barbie’s size

Christian Siriano, probably the only Project Runway alumnus who has made a name for himself, is the latest designer to collaborate with Mattel​: he translated some of his most famous dresses in Barbie size. Known for his inclusiveness, he did not shy away from using every available Barbie body type and different skin colours for the dolls wearing his one of a kind creations. The five ensembles are below.

Four of them were worn by famous stars on the red carpet or for a photo shoot, while the fifth one is from one of his latest collections. Let’s check them out one by one.

First Up,is the red number he did for Leslie Jones, when no one else would give her a gown to wear for the Ghostbusters premiere in July 2016. Siriano graciously accepted to dress her and wou can see the real outfit below the doll photo. Pity thatbthe Doll does not have the same jewellery or bag Ms. Jones was wearing. It is an OOAK doll people, pile it on! Jones photo from Elle UK.

Next is a gown worn by Sarah Jessica Parker for a photo shoot with Marie Claire. Boring does not even begin to describe it. She was photographed by Tesh for the US edition in September 2011 and it was also in many international editions of the magazine that Fall, making the cover in South Africa and Hungary. Parker photo from Siriano’s website.

The third dress is again a red carpet appearance. The actress Sarah Hyland wore it at the 2014 Emmy Awards. It reminds me a lot of Mizrahi outfits but without the chutzpah. Hyland photo by Peoples Choice.

The fourth outfit looks like a variation of the previous one, different skirt colour and material. This is the most recent one, from the designer’s 2018:resort collection. Fashion photo courtesy of Christian Siriano.

And last, but not least, anothervred caret outfit. This one was worn by Solange Knowles at a gala during Art Basel 2016. Easily the best of the bunch, both in Doll and human size.

Apart from the Solange outfit, the rest look like something any little girl can do with fabric scraps found at home. No design, no shape, no style. It does not help that the real fashions on which the doll clothes are based are devoid of any kind of style or inspiration themselves. Simplicity is hard to design and even harder to translate to doll size.

All doll photos courtesy of Mattel.

Barbie and Missguided team up to sell out!

Barbie has collaborated many times with fashion brands in order to sell clothes or cosmetics - hey, they even sell their own fashions! Their latest collaboration is with global brand Missguided. It launched with the Barbie x Missguided collection, featuring jeans, cameo and millennial pink.  As Missguided mentioned on their website: "Barbie is THE ultimate female icon and her message is that girls can be anything they want. Our #babesofmissguided’s possibilities are endless, this is for the badass babes who can do anything".

The collection sold out in the first 24 hours - all 43 pieces of it! The company announced they will be re-stocking soon, so if you are interested, go to their website and sign up,for their newsletter.  

Of course they could not pass by the opportunity to make some Barbie sized outfits as well! No mention anywhere if theaw dolls will be released for sale, but after the success of the real clothes, who knows? Let's see the dolls one by one, as each has a distinct look, character and role in the Missguided team. The dolls were created by the super talented Magia2000 duo, Mario Paglino and Gianni Grossi.

The Artworker Barbie is the art director of the bunch. Looks appropriately creative. 

The real life version of Artworker. 

Photographer Barbie, best of the bunch. Love the hair and sunglasses. She does have a camera, which makes her the only one of the team with appropriate tools for her trade. 

Real life version very close to the doll one. 

PR and Events Barbie looks a bit too teeny bopper for this kind of job.  

The real skirt looks much better than the miniature version. Plus jewellery! 

Social Media Barbie  does not have any kind of mobile device to justify her title. How is she going to post on Instagram with those headphones?

Her real life counterpart does not seem to care about posting on social media either. 

Creative Conceptualist Barbie gets so thirsty when thinking about campaigns and promotions that she has a water bottle with her. 

Would you like to see these dolls get a commercial release? 

All photos courtesy of Mattel and Missguided.  

Marni Senofonte, Beyoncé's stylist, collaborates with Mattel for some amazing Barbie dolls!

The @Barbiestyle instagram account, one of the official Mattel accounts, posts photos and set ups featuring Barbie in a variety of roles and outfits, attracting a huge number of followers and exerting real social media influence. Many times, the dolls and outfits featured are one-of-a-kind creations, driving Barbie and fashion doll collectors crazy with envy, as they know they are never getting these dolls to own. The latest series of photos talked about online are from Mattel's collaboration with none other than Beyoncé's stylist extraordinaire, Marni Senofonte.

As mentioned in her webpage, Marni Senofonte is a stylist, costume designer, and brand consultant. Her distinct style, which has evolved over the last two decades, layers proportion and pattern, texture and technique, high-end designer and fast fashion, to create iconic, trend defining look. Her work spans editorial spreads to appearances, music and films to world tours. Intensely collaborative, she enjoys teaming with designers, craftsmen and artisans to not only realize her vision and the vision of those she works with, but also to create outfits, imagery and full-realized brands that are both distinct and defining. She has worked with a wide range of celebrities and personalities, from Beyoncé, Lauryn Hill, and Sean Combs to Ciara, Mary J. Blige, and Jay Z, as well as with brands such as Gucci, Kenzo, Roberto Cavalli and couturiers Ulyana Sergeenko and Francesco Scognamiglio. Originally from a small town in Pennsylvania, Marni started her career as Norma Kamali's assistant. She now lives between Los Angeles  and New York City.

Like most people interested in fashion, Marni was playing with Barbie dolls as a kid, cutting their her, redressing and styling them. Like many kids out there, the doll was her first foray into fashion, unleashing her creative potential. Coming full circle, her collaboration with @BarbieStyle features a range of one-of-kind looks showcasing a very diverse range of body, hair, and skin options. The stylist mentions that the Barbie Fashionistas line with their diverse body types (original, curvy, tall, and petite),skin tones and hairstyles, was her main inspiration.  The dolls are not available for purchase. Hopefully we might see some of their style filter through in future releases of Barbie. Below are photos of the dolls from the @Barbiestyle instagram account and sketches of the dolls by Mattel designer Carlyle Nuera. The details and close ups are screen captures from @Barbiestyle instagram stories. All photos courtesy of Mattel.

Victorian punk is what Barbiestyle calls Senofonte's look for the dolls