The Fashion Doll Chronicles: December 2008

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Barbie gets heeled by Christian Louboutin!

For Barbie's 50th birthday (boy she looks good for her age!) shoe designer Christian Louboutin is designing pumps in iconic Barbie Pantone 219 Pink. The shoes will make their debut at the special runway show that Mattel Inc. is staging during New York fashion week next February.

Fifty as-yet-undisclosed designers will be producing Barbie-inspired outfits for the runway, and each of the 50 models showcasing them will be wearing the pink Louboutins at the show.

The designer himself, my favourite shoe guru alongside Manolo Blahnik, said "I guess I always had a little 'girlie side' who liked Barbie. She needs to wear great shoes because every girl needs to wear great shoes."

Saturday, December 13, 2008

The Miss Lanvin Collection

Last year, Albert Elbaz, the designer of the veritable fashion house of Lanvin, had decorated the Faubourg St. Honore store's windows with mannequins wearing his designs. He then release six porcelain dolls (more like figurines really) with Lanvin fashions taken right out of his sketch book, reminding us of the Theatre De la Mode era, back after the 2nd WW, when French designers dressed miniature mannequins with their designs and travelled them around the world.

This year, Monsieur Elbaz releases the second wave of Lanvin porcelain dolls. It features six looks from the Spring/Summer 2008 collection plus one from the Bridal Capsule collection (the dress that Sarah Jessika Parker wore in the Sex & The City film). They are limited to 800 pieces, made by Chinese craftsman Franz. They look like they're around 10-11 inches tall, maybe smaller. Each one costs 250 Euros (ouch!) and they can be found in Lanvin stores and major department stores in fashion capitals around the world. I wish I had all these fashions for my dolls!