KITH collaborates with Barbie and offers customers a chance to style their official doll!

KITH is a retail store in New York, founded by designer Ronnie Fieg In 2010. They make and sell sportswear, establish sneaker collaborations and also sell a number of renowned street wear brands. They now announce a collaboration with Barbie, working together to create a special experience for their customers: they will have the chance to create the official Kith x Barbie doll!

Starting this Saturday 9/21 KITH will be hosting styling appointments where customers will get to select one of the four dolls they have created with Mattel designer Carlyle Nuera and then style them in a look from over 100 different Kith Women apparel pieces. One of these submissions will then be selected to be produced as the official Kith x Barbie doll. Accordimg to their Instagram account though, all appointment slots have officially been filled. They do mention that walk-ins are welcome but cannot guarantee access. Follow them for further updates. I love both the doll’s and the outfits, at least what what we can see in the official photos. I envy the people who will get to style a doll and submit it for a chance to win.

So how come they decided to work with Barbie?. “For sixty years, Barbie has been an international pop-culture phenomenon offering girls around the globe a chance to play, tell stories, and, most importantly, to dream. Kith echoes this mindset by presenting an immersive world for its customers by engaging them through a unique retail environment that fosters creativity,” says Kith-founder Ronnie Fieg. This shared philosophy is what started this partnership—and it will remain a key element in the collaboration between Kith and Barbie.

The Kith Women x Barbie collaboration kicks off with a Barbie takeover of Kith’s flagship store in New York.  Several activations are planned including: 

STYLING CONTEST: September 21st - September 29th

Kith will host Barbie styling sessions at its Soho location on the second floor – known as the Arsham/Fieg Gallery. By appointment only, participants can choose from four dolls that represent the diversity and the dynamism of the Kith Woman. Entrants will be able to dress, style and outfit on-site with 100 custom doll-sized apparel and accessories pieces from the Kith Women line. 

Participants will then submit a photo of their uniquely styled Barbie to be evaluated by a cross-section of the fashion industry’s most notable tastemakers. The panel of judges will include Dianne Garcia, Jackie Kim – director of Kith Women, Maeve Reilly, Ade Samuel and Kith founder Ronnie Fieg. Judges will select the top six looks, which will be put to a public vote via @KithWomen social platform. The submission that receives the most public votes will then become the official limited-edition Kith x Barbie doll, to be released in late 2020 and available from Kith stores worldwide.

RETROSPECTIVE: September 21st to October 2nd 

A complementary retrospective exhibition that celebrates Barbie’s 60-year history will be on view at Kith’s Soho store from September 21st to October 2nd. The original Barbie created in 1959, featuring her iconic black and white chevron swimsuit, will be on display, alongside surrounding ephemera and milestone moments. The in-store museum-inspired vignette layout will be a testament to the doll’s empowering legacy and status as a pop-culture icon.

LIMITED EDITION COMMEMORATIVE APPAREL

Kith will also be designing and distributing limited edition Kith x Barbie 60th Anniversary t-shirt, available only to the first 200 attendees.

All photos courtesy of KITH and Mattel

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.

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.

The London Fashion Doll Festival 2019 was amazing - and I was there to experience it!

My second ever fashion doll convention, the London Fashion Doll Festival 2019, was held on the weekend of 8-9 June in London, at the lovely V&A Museum Of Childhood in Bethnal Green, London. I had promised the organisers that I’d join them in this second time of the convention being held, so there I was! The event took place over two days in the Summerly Room Of The museum, plus an adjoining smaller room for the workshop. 

The V&A Museum of Childhood in London

The Summerly Room

A banner at the convention area

Everyone registered upon entry, with an easy scan of our ticket. We were given our goody bags according to our registration level (with or without the exclusive Superdoll convention doll). As I found out, the bag had loads of lovely gifts!  Check them out below.

The tables were set for eight persons and mine was named Carnaby Girl. I had the honour of being in the same table with Desmond Lingard (from Superdoll), Izzy Parker with her husband Ian, Christina Paul (who runs the Doll Club Of Great Britain website) and of course, from the organisers, Simon Farnworth, his husband Carl and Kim London. What an amazing company to be with! The tables had a folder with two lovely sketches inside by Navdeep Sikand, creator of the lovely Anouk dolls...

...who also offered ten of them for centerpieces on each table! They were raffled off to the attendees near the end of the day, Izzy won ours. The dress and bags are made by Ineke Hintz. The gorgeous base was given along with the doll. If enough requests are made, LFDF will be able to have some for sale. 

Our centerpiece doll! There were blonde and raven versions of the doll.

Everyone else at the table got a small gift as well - i won the miniature chess you see below in the round box. I was lucky enough to receive some lovely gifts from my table mates too - Kim gave me the tea set (donated by her), Carl the amazing jewellery set (by Alla Dolgaleva Rapoport), Sofia the miniature Barbies and the wonderful Thomas Bartholomew Maffei, who came all the way from the USA, gave me the Sparkle Girl outfits!

Izzy had a gorgeous doll with her, the fantastic Glory resin Sybarite from the Los Angeles Convention earlier this year (above) , while Desmond had with him the 12” House Of Zenith Avenue, introduced earlier this year. She’s not wearing her original fashion and looked better IRL than in photos I had seen (below).

Soon enough, it was time for the workshops to begin. I had registered for both, so my schedule was full! First one was the Face Up workshop by Claudio Coronado, who was introduced by Simon Farnworth. 

Claudio was very thorough in showing us the steps in how to begin painting a doll’s face. A slideshow helped him show the detailed work he does. 

We got a great list of all the steps to follow when painting a doll face and helped us understand it is no easy task. Which is why you see the “before” photo of the doll head I had to paint, but not the “after”! 

The artist at work. This magnifying glass type is perfect for detailed work, I must get one.

After the end of the workshop, I had the chance to photograph the dolls on display. The Carnaby themed set up was beautiful.

The items that were going to be raffled off the next day, to support a great cause, the Children With Cancer UK charity, we’re also on display. See the slideshow below. I should also mention that there is an ebay auction with exclusive OOAK creations (dolls or outfits) for LFDF 2019, to benefit the same charity, that ends on the 22nd of June 2019, so go to this link to check the offerings and bid!

If you love Sybarites, you know Desmond is an incredibly talented photographer as well. Some of his magnificent prints were on display and for sale.

There was a small exhibition of 60s dolls as well, check them out below in the slideshow.

Emperis Dolls had a beautiful display as well and I got to meet the lovely Marcus and William who make them. They had both their new 12” dolls and their 16” ones on display and for sale. Some amazing OOAK dolls were there too, check out Cher in the slideshow below. The guys told me they almost sold out during the day.

Then it was time for the second workshop of the day: Sofia Kalaitzidi from Microsonik London showed us how to make a flower wig. These were very popular during the 60s in editorials and covers of fashion magazines. Elizabeth Taylor and members of the British Royal family were sporting them often in events.

Here are the materials Sofia gave us for the wig plus a prepared base for us to work on.

I managed to go as far as you can see below during the workshop (I’m hopeless with a needle). Some just threaded the larger flowers through the base as they had long wire stems, so no sewing needed, but I wanted a more delicate effect. Will try and finish it home!

And here I am next to the lovely Francesco from Fred-Dolls at the workshop - we had so much fun!

After the workshop ended, it was time for afternoon tea! A proper British tea, with everything necessary - tea, scones, clotted cream, jam, milk, sandwiches, sugar, macaroons and other treats! It was delectable.

During tea time, members of the organising team (l to r: dear Ismail, Simon and Claudio) presented the people dressed in sixties or sixties inspired clothes.

The t-shirts worn by the organisers ate the official convention shirt and all attendees got one!

there were eight of them, all lovely and dapper in mod outfits…

…and the winner was Olga, who was the most popular - people voted for their favourite contestant by giving them their raffle ticket!

Near the end of the day, it was time for the most anticipated reveal: Desmond unveiled the exclusive convention Sybarite doll!

Her name is Dejah and she is the last Generation X Sybarite doll to be released! The edition is 30 dolls and there are two more available at the LFDF site - hurry up!

You can see my doll below, as I opened the box right after the presentation. The last photo is the official one from Superdoll. She’s like a Motown singer from a girl group the 60s or a Northern Soul singer on a tour in Britain in the late 60s..

And here I am with dear Desmond - this one is for you Shazam Paname! Charles was in China, supervising doll production in the factory.

This was the first day of the London Fashion Doll Festival, full of wonderful people sharing our doll passion, making beautiful memories and seeing so many gorgeous dolls. Next up, the Salesroom day.

Welcome to Miami! The 2nd W Club exclusive doll for 2019 is Ocean Drive Agnes Von Weiss!

The proverbial ink (virtual of course) wasn’t even dry on the first W Club doll preorder and the second one arrived in our inboxes! "Ocean Drive" Baroness Agnes Von Weiss™ mini gift set, designed by IT designer Jessy Ayala, is the new beauty on the horizon, 1 of the 5 total W Club Exclusive Dolls offered throughout the Club year (there are still 3 left).

Item # 91447

Ocean Drive

Baroness Agnes Von Weiss™

Dressed Doll Mini Gift Set The Fashion Royalty® Collection

2019 W Club Exclusive

Expected Ship Date: Fall 2019

Special Member-Only Pricing:$165.00 + S & H

Edition Size: TBD

Head Sculpt: Agnes

Foot Sculpt: High heel

Skin Tone: FR Black

Hair Color: Dark Espresso

Eyelashes: Yes, Hand-applied

Quickswitch: No

Included:

• 12.5" fully articulated doll with rooted hair and hand-applied eyelashes;
• High-fashion, ocean inspired, hand-drawn and custom printed bathing suit with matching sheer sun-skirt;
• Matching hand-drawn and custom printed open-toe sandals;
• Newly designed "golden" seashell-inspired jewelry set, which includes ankle and wrist bangle bracelets, elaborate drop earrings, starfish ring;
• Alternate set of jewelry composed of earrings, necklace and cuff bracelet;
• Perfectly draped, ankle length cocktail dress with micro-sequins at the back and delicate chain shoulder strap details;
• "Golden" spectator heels to match Agnes' evening look;
• Clutch purse;
• Oversized sunglasses;
• Pair of hands (with long nails);
• Alternate pair of hands (with short nails);
• Doll stand;
• Certificate of authenticity.

First time for Agnes in FR black. She’s gorgeous, isn’t she? We have seen her before in skintones other than her usual, white-as-porcelain complexion, and it suits her a lot. The swimsuit and wrap skirt look is definitely inspired by similar Versace looks, more recently seen in the tribute collection last year. The yellow/golden draped dress is more difficult to pinpoint; people have tried to match it to Versace chainmail dresses, to a Kim Kardashian look (based on her hairstyle, sheesh!), but to me it looks a lot like an older Fashion Royalty dress, the one worn by On The Rise Elyse Jolie. 

She has a great looking face, looks very different than her previous darker skin editions, plus her accessories are fantastic: two pairs of shoes, a nice bag, earrings that look like the Versace Medusa, charm bracelets, a starfish ring, plus a redesigned version of the older Fashion Royalty coin necklace. Just wish she had a more modern design for her (seen before a lot) sunglasses. Maybe if I could find some gold shells or starfish in scale and glue them on the sunglasses? The W Club informed us that she mails in a regular doll box, so shipping is cheaper than other giftsets. Good work IT!

Offer Type:W Club Exclusive pre-order.
Participation Deadline: June 21st, 2019, Noon Eastern time.
Special Mini Gift Set Pricing: $165.00 + S&H per set.($25 NRD deposit per mini gift set due now; balance of $140.00 + S & H per mini gift set due approximately Fall 2019).
Final Edition Size: To be determined- will be based on all pre-orders received.
Shipping Timing: Approximately Fall 2019.
Availability: 2019 W Club members only.
Order Limit: Up to 1 mini gift set per membership.

THE DEADLINE TO PRE-ORDER THIS MINI GIFT SET IS NORTH AMERICAN EASTERN TIME.JUNE 21ST, 2019 AT NOON

Doll shown is a prototype. Final fabrics, hand-drawn bathing suit print, colors and textures may vary slightly. For adult collectors ages 15 and up only. All photos and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2019 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission. Fashion Royalty and all other character marks followed by ™ or ® are trademarks ofIntegrity Toys, Inc. Chesapeake City MD USA 21915. All rights reserved. The W Club is a trademark of Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC. All rights reserved. Doll Photography by Jayme Thornton. Layouts and graphics by Alain Tremblay, Marketing.

The first W Club doll for 2019 is Midnight Decadence Poppy Parker and it’s a 10th Anniversary Souvenir Doll!

Early June is a bit late to release the 1st W Club Exclusive Doll of the 2019 membership year. But if you remember that last year the first club dolls were unveiled in September, it looks just fine. Yesterday, the club unveiled "Midnight Decadence" Poppy Parker™ 10th Anniversary Souvenir doll, designed by the talented and beloved David Buttry, featuring a special bonus illustration created by David himself to mark this milestone in the brand's history. It was 2009 when the first Poppy Parker dolls were released. Time sure goes by so fast!

Item # PP152

Midnight Decadence Poppy Parker™ Dressed Doll

The Poppy Parker™ Collection 10th Anniversary Souvenir Doll

2019 W Club Exclusive

Expected Ship Date:Fall 2019

Special Member-Only Pricing:$140 + S & H

Edition Size: TBD

Head Sculpt: Poppy Parker™

Foot Sculpt: High-heeled Foot

Skin Tone: FR White

Hair Color: Platinum Blonde

Eyelashes: Yes, Hand-applied

Quickswitch: No

Included:

• 12" fully articulated doll with luscious rooted hair and hand-applied eyelashes;
• Sparkling black evening gown with removable train (to create two different looks with one dress!), featuring a lovely black satin bow at the bust line and soft marabou feather accents;
• Newly designed clutch purse with golden "PP" logo deco piece and chain accents;
• Golden "jeweled" brooch;
• Matching "jeweled" cuff bracelets, pair of drop earrings and ring;
• Black satin pumps with marabou feather accents;
• Black satin hair ribbon;
• Sheer stockings;
• Alternate pair of hands;
• SPECIAL BONUS! 8 X 10 full color, limited edition printed souvenir sketch by David Buttry;
• Doll stand;
• Certificate of authenticity.

Offer Type:W Club Exclusive pre-order.

Participation Deadline: June 11, 2019, Noon Eastern time.
Special Pricing: $140.00 + S&H per doll.($25 NRD deposit per doll due now, balance of $115.00 + S & H per doll due approximately Fall 2019).
Final Edition Size: To be determined- will be based on all pre-orders received.
Shipping Timing: Approximately Fall 2019.
Availability: 2019 W Club members only.
Order Limit: Up to 1 doll per membership.

A bit surprising for the 10th anniversary souvenir Poppy, don’t you agree? She’s wearing quite an original and avant-garde gown compared to her first released sisters all those years ago. The fabric would not be my first choice, but it’s luxurious and impressive in this styling. David said the sleeves are separate as well, so she can wear the short dress with them. The doll is a twin sister of Welcome To Misty Hollows Poppy, with different shades in her make up and a bow designed just a bit this way as to not look identical to Misty. 

​The jewellery has been used before in different lines and dolls. I love the monogrammed clutch. The shoes are black fabric cutout pumps, with bows and feathers at the heel. I was expecting a doll styled more in sync to the debut collection, but I think I prefer this one, she’s more dramatic and decadent. Can’t wait to see the rest of the Poppy dolls the year has in store.

Final fabrics, colors and textures may vary slightly. For adult collectors ages 15 and up only. All text and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2019 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission. Poppy Parker and all other character marks followed by ™ or ® are trademarks of Integrity Toys, Inc. Chesapeake City MD USA 21915. All rights reserved. The W Club is a trademark of Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC. All rights reserved. Doll Photography by Jayme Thornton. Layouts and graphics by Alain Tremblay, Marketing.