The final night of the Integrity Toys convention is always the most impressive, important but also emotional, as everyone has to say goodbye. The evening started with the introduction of the final centerpiece of the convention, followed by dinner, the announcement of this year's competition winners, the raffle of the designer OOAK dolls (which were amazing, pity I do not have official photos) and an interview with Jason Wu.

Jason announced plans for celebrating his company's 10th anniversary in 2017 and the introduction of new features in the Fashion Royalty line, starting with a "Velvet Touch" skin finish (sounds similar to Lovetones skin). He announced that as a thank you for everyone who opted to attend convention this year, a special offer would be included with the convention doll: to pre-order the very first Elyse doll that features the "Velvet Touch" skin finish. It seems like the Jason Wu anniversary dolls will be a separate line, sold through international stores, more expensive and with more detailed handmade outfits. More about the actual doll below.

I forgot to mention in a previous post that Victoire is also making a comeback, with a slightly tweaked body (it will be "explosive" like the FR for easier dressing). Cannot wait to see her back.

The moment everyone was waiting for was of course the reveal of this year's convention doll which came with two complete outfits to match the other girls in the convention collection.

Next year's convention will be in Orlando, Florida the weekend of October 19th-21st, 2017 with the theme of Fashion Fairytale. The amazing fairytale inspired editorials of Grace Coddington for the Christmas issues of Vogue came to mind immediately.

The winner of 2016's Supermodel Convention Design Competition Advanced Category was the talented Salvador Lopez Arriaga, so congratulations for him! He got both jury and public awards. His design will come to life later in 2017 as a real Integrity Toys doll. Here's a picture of his lovely creation: 

At the intermediary category, public prize went to the amazing Ginny Liezert, while last year's winner, the awesome Jason Kramer got the jury prize. Congratulations both, much deserved!

This is a suit from the Dior by John Galliano Haute Couture collection from Autumn/Winter 1997/1998, an iconic collection and show. It was worn on the runway, in the parc des Bagatelles, by Debra Shaw, a model and friend of Galliano's.

Princesse Bundi and Princesse Partabgarh from the Haute Couture F/W 1997 Collection. 

Photography by Patrick Demarchelier

Dania looks gorgeous here, and the recreation of the suit is perfection. Love the amazing Masai necklace. The inspiration of that collection was Marchesa Casati and Masai tribal dress.

Pity the shoes are not the fringed ones shown with the actual outfit, they'd be smashing. I do think though that Jordan or Nadja would rock this one much better, just like Debra Shaw did on the catwalk.

Lacroix sweetie, Lacroix! Finally a gown from the master of couture, and a sumptuous one at that. This is from the Christian Lacroix Haute Couture Spring/Summer 1995 collection and this is how it looked on the runway:

Courtesy Harper's Bazaar/Getty Images

Shalom Harlow wearing Lacroix, styled by Grace Coddington and photographed by Bruce Weber for the March 1995 issue of American Vogue

Dasha, still with her trademark sideglance, looks fab here. She does remind me a bit of Karen Mulder and also of her previous incarnation as Renegade, again blonde and in a red dress.

Elyse was not at convention but she made quite an impression. The face looks a lot like Montaine Market Elise, the dress is lovely, with nice detailing. But the stud earrings and the absence of other accessories do not justify the high price (near $200 from what I hear) of the doll. She is too austere, almost looks like a nanny in a fancy dress.

Note: The pictures contained in this email show the prototypes and the final dolls may vary slightly. All doll photos and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2016 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission.

As the W Club started later than usual in 2016, it affected the pacing and schedule of new doll releases. This past weekend was the second unveil of the year, after the first with the Poppy Parker collection early this summer. This one included the Fashion Royalty collection, arguably the most important one of Integrity Toys, plus the My Little Pony (MLP) franchise collection and a couple of ITBE 16 dolls. This event was a live webinar presentation, unlike the previous one which was done through emails. The presentation was done by Carol Roth, W Club founder, assisted by Alain Tremblay, but without the Fashion Royalty designer, Vaughn Sawyer, who was in China attending production procedures. The team was completed with Jesse Ayala for the MLP line (more for that in the relevant post). They also mentioned that the collection was based on a concept worked by Jason Wu and Vaughn together. Jason will also be making an appearance at this year's Integrity Toys convention in Chicago and Alain said that if anyone is still interested in attending, to contact him at the company email - there may be a few places available.

As was expected, the Fashion Royalty collection generated a lot of talk and probably raised more questions than it answered. The main one was the new decal eye (hybrid eye as IT names it, meaning the actual eyes are water slide decals and the eye make up is painted with stencils as before) process that some of the dolls are now using, which begun, without the buyers knowing about this, with the upgrade Vanessa club doll and the IFDC Dasha/Annika doll. I will make a separate post about this so will not elaborate further here. As you will see reading on, the dolls that have decal eyes from this collection have it in their specifications.  Most are available to pre-order (with Natalia and Elyse already sold out at most dealers) while Vero, as a basic doll (a much welcomed return of the Close Up dolls), will be available later in the year through IT Direct.

How I saw the collection "A Delicate Bloom" as a whole? I was again underwhelmed, much like with the Poppy Parker one. While it looks nice and coherent, with some gorgeous details and dolls, it is not what I was expecting based on the Vanessa upgrade doll and her delicate, intricate outfit, hairstyle and accessories, that all the dolls would have a similar styling and aesthetic. And while the intense colours and lack of black (much to the joy of several collectors) did stay the same, the rest were severely lacking. I know many people loved it and that is good, but I was waiting to see something entirely different. Another thing that raised a lot of noise was the lack of non-caucasian dolls. With the exception of the asian Kyori, the rest of the dolls are caucasian, even the Latina Natalia has the FR White skin-tone. And no, the so called Hungarian skin tone is not ethnic, just a slightly tanned variation. It is a bit weird coming from this particular company, especially considering last year's gorgeous darker skinned dolls and their popularity. More about how I see each doll below.