Mdvanii
Encyclopedia
Mdvanii was originally conceived as a conceptual art and fashion doll for adults (and particularly art, fashion and doll collectors) by artist BillyBoy*. Since 1990 it has known to have been a collaboration with his life partner, artist Jean Pierre Lestrade (a.k.a Lala). The doll was originally made in a matte Caron make-up toned hard resin and 25 centimeters tall. Mdvanii debuted on February 14, 1989 in London, England.
dolls and other vintage
post-war
fashion dolls since the early 1970s. He started to re-design dolls for his own amusement, re-painting and re-dressing Barbies but also other commercial dolls from the 1960s and 1970s as a teenager. He received press as early as 1978 he created for Mattel the “Nouveau Théatre de la Mode Barbie”, which was the first Barbie doll bearing a designer’s name on its box, also well as his follow-up Barbie doll for Mattel, USA called "Feelin' Groovy Barbie" in 1986. His book titled "Barbie, Her Life and Times“ was published in the USA by Crown Publishers, accompanied by a world tour of a selection of his vintage and unique haute couturier dressed Barbie dolls called "BillyBoy* Le Nouveau Théatre de la Mode".His book which came out in 1987 was translated into a number of languages for many different editions including Japanese, French, Finnish and German.
and was his avatar
. She was launched as the first "fashion doll as art" concept.
Shortly after the Barbie years, BillyBoy* invented Mdvanii as his own "fashion doll", this time not a commercially-made toy, but an artistic creation. Mdvanii is an original concept and patented sculpting, inspired by 1950s and 60s fashion dolls.
Mdvanii was originally conceived as a conceptual art and fashion doll for adults (and particularly art, fashion and doll collectors) by artist BillyBoy*. Since 1990 it has known to have been a collaboration with his life partner, artist Jean Pierre Lestrade (a.k.a Lala). The doll was originally made in a matte Caron make-up toned hard resin and 25 centimeters tall. Mdvanii debuted on February 14, 1989 in London, England.
dolls and other vintage
post-war
fashion dolls since the early 1970s. He started to re-design dolls for his own amusement, re-painting and re-dressing Barbies but also other commercial dolls from the 1960s and 1970s as a teenager. He received press as early as 1978 he created for Mattel the “Nouveau Théatre de la Mode Barbie”, which was the first Barbie doll bearing a designer’s name on its box, also well as his follow-up Barbie doll for Mattel, USA called "Feelin' Groovy Barbie" in 1986. His book titled "Barbie, Her Life and Times“
and was his avatar
.
Shortly after the Barbie years, BillyBoy* invented Mdvanii as his own "fashion doll", this time not a commercially-made toy, but an artistic creation. Mdvanii is an original concept and patented sculpting, inspired by 1950s and 60s fashion dolls. http://bases-modeles.inpi.fr/Typo3_INPI_Modeles/dessins_recherche_avancee.html
Mdvanii was originally conceived as a conceptual art and fashion doll for adults (and particularly art, fashion and doll collectors) by artist BillyBoy*. Since 1990 it has known to have been a collaboration with his life partner, artist Jean Pierre Lestrade (a.k.a Lala). The doll was originally made in a matte Caron make-up toned hard resin and 25 centimeters tall. Mdvanii debuted on February 14, 1989 in London, England.
dolls and other vintage
post-war
fashion dolls since the early 1970s. He started to re-design dolls for his own amusement, re-painting and re-dressing Barbies but also other commercial dolls from the 1960s and 1970s as a teenager. He received press as early as 1978 he created for Mattel the “Nouveau Théatre de la Mode Barbie”, which was the first Barbie doll bearing a designer’s name on its box, also well as his follow-up Barbie doll for Mattel, USA called "Feelin' Groovy Barbie" in 1986. His book titled "Barbie, Her Life and Times“
and was his avatar
.
Shortly after the Barbie years, BillyBoy* invented Mdvanii as his own "fashion doll", this time not a commercially-made toy, but an artistic creation. Mdvanii is an original concept and patented sculpting, inspired by 1950s and 60s fashion dolls. http://bases-modeles.inpi.fr/Typo3_INPI_Modeles/dessins_recherche_avancee.html The looks originate from BillyBoy*'s Russian-origin mother by adoption. The doll was first made and shown in BillyBoy*'s Paris-based Surreal Bijoux showroom.
The doll clothes designed by BillyBoy* which are worn by Mdvanii are made in the tradition of French haute couture and were originally made in France but since 1997 are also made in Switzerland. They use the same fabrics, embroideries and details as French fashion-makers: Lesage embroideries, Gripoix jewellery details, as well as stocks of fabrics from the collection of BillyBoy*, as Raoul Dufy
printed silk satin made for Paul Poiret
given to him by his daughter Perrine de Wilde (née Poiret), vintage 1940s Schiaparelli
satin given to BillyBoy* by the defunct House of Schiaparelli, and a swatch of Sonia Delaunay
painted silk given to BillyBoy* by Delaunay when he was a teen.
Mdvanii was launched at the British department store Liberty & Co. in London, England on the initiative of Carol Lister, head fashion accessories buyer and the stores owner, Richard Stewart Liberty. Mdvanii was humanly-scaled with a right and left foot, was "anatomically correct", a completely hand-made and hand-painted doll. This "effigy" as BillyBoy* called the doll was made from resin in a very limited series and was a new concept. An edition of Mdvanii was made exclusively F.A.O Schwarz
and featured in their catalogues. The launch was tied-in with the premiere issue of Contemporary Doll Magazine Bloomingdale's
Mdvanii was shown during the "Vive La France" (1989) promotion, premiering for a gala to benefit The Institut Pasteur and Gay Men's Health Crisis
and a display was made within the exhibition of 102 pieces of BillyBoy*'s haute couture collection. In Canada for the same show of BillyBoy*'s haute couture collection and the debut of Mdvanii it was sold exclusively through the then House of Christian Dior
designer Gianfranco Ferré
establishment at Le Cours Mont-Royal in Montreal Catalogues for both shows featured prominently Mdvanii and the wardrobe.
Mdvanii was also represented in Paris through a boutique-gallery
Since the very beginning Mdvanii was represented in Japan by Sumiko Watanabe and SW Japan who had exclusive works made for her to show on a regular basis. She represents Mdvanii to this day but also the paintings of BillyBoy*.
, Jean Marc Dallenegra, Eric Raspaut and Fabrice Janosik
Her hair and wigs were designed by hairdresser Alexandre de Paris. Alexandre de Paris personally did detailed drawings for her hairstyles and his logo, which was created by Jean Cocteau
is placed on all Mdvanii boxes and catalogues. One of her cosmetic face-paints of 1990 was supposed to be designed by Mel Odom
but it was rejected at the last minute by BillyBoy* and never used. Instead, Mdvanii is hand painted by BillyBoy*s life partner, artist Jean Pierre Lestrade (a.k.a Lala). The illustration on her first box, which is predominantly turquoise her signature colour, was created especially for her by French fashion illustrator Rene Gruau
and her first catalogue interior sketches are by Clyde Smith, who originally did the drawings for the Random House series of Barbie doll books in the early 1960s.
Texts were written for her by writers depicting her imaginary lifestyle through the eyes of each author and music, a classical waltz called "Hommage to Mdvanii" has been written and composed for Mdvanii by classical pianist Nicolas Bloomfield (GB). Poets have been inspired by Mdvanii. Poet Gerard Wozek (USA) has written extensive poems about Mdvanii and her family such as her teenage brother Muio-Bix and the emerging new poet Sunil Narayan, who is American and of Indian heritage has written classical poetry tomes to Soraya, Mdvanii's psychic Indian friend and her brother, the Bollywood
-inspired gay teenage boy called Ishwar. She has been shown in a number of music videos. In the early 1990s, for the song "Little Susie" BillyBoy* art directed and starred in a video for the Japanese girl group Suzy Susie. Of recent, there was notably that of Lala's songs from his album, Lala "Succès damnés" (The Lost Album). "Edie Superstar" showed a "Mdvaniiism" of Mdvanii paintings and dolls and "L'Amour n'a pas de prix" which was created especially for Diane Pernet's "ASVOFF 3 - A Shaded View of Fashion Film 3" (A Shaded View of Fashion Film - her film festival dedicated to fashion) which had its premiere in September 2010 at the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou, Paris, France. It was called "Mdvaniiism - Classic Mdvanii Haute Couture 1989 -1993, A Homage to Monsieur Yves Saint Laurent".
Mdvanii has been photographed by many known photographers including Studio Harcourt
for the The Sunday Times Magazine in London, England. Guy Bourdin
did a cover try for Harper's Bazaar, Paris in 1989.
,Vogue
, Vogue Hommes International, Harper's Bazaar
Elle
, Glamour
, Actuel (France),Playboy
, ARTnews
, The Sunday Times Magazine
(Great Britain) and Paris, L'Officiel
.
Mdvanii was briefly advertised in the specialized Barbie doll collector's magazine called Barbie Bazaar for a few years in the early 1990s.
Mdvanii is in many of the world's museums: Mdvanii is included in Le Musée de Louvre
in the L’Union centrale des arts décoratifs (UCAD), Musée de la Mode et du Textile
(UFAC), which is part of Musée des Arts Décoratifs inaugurated by the Union Française des Arts du Costume in Paris. She is in the Victoria and Albert Museum
in London and Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York City and in private collections of art and dolls in the world. She has soon acquired by people such as Jackie Onassis, Mr. & Mrs Norman Mailer, Jean Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler and Sonia Rykiel The late Kelly Cole, adopted son of Nat King Cole and brother of singer Natalie Cole would offer his sister the first Dheei doll, best friend to Mdvanii.
, Torrente, Louis Féraud
, Guy Laroche
and Révillon
Haute Fourrure and other French haute couturiers and fashion houses, for Révillon she was presented during the runway fashion shows along with the human-sized furs.
L’Officiel ran a 14-page feature story on BillyBoy* and Mdvanii titled “L’incroyable BillyBoy*”. In this article she is shown wearing couture clothes and haute joaillerie by jewelmakers such as Van Cleef and Arpels, Harry Winston
, Boucheron
and Cartier
. She is represented as the "L'Officiel Ambassadrice of French Haute Couture" (“Mdvanii, Mascot of Paris High Fashion”) and was available in a 1940s-inspired Liberty & Co. print outfit designed by BillyBoy* with a subscription through the magazine. She was photographed on a special cover for the magazine. These dolls had a special woven label with the L'Officiel logo in all the garments.
The porcelain versions of Mdvanii as are all the tribe of her friends, lovers and family (of which there are 15 members) are made in Sèvres, France. It was BillyBoy*'s express wish to keep within this French tradition. It was at this point that BillyBoy*, on the advice of Lala, started referring to Mdvanii as "a sculpture with a lifestyle". BillyBoy* did a series of portraits in black and white which feature Mdvanii and the other characters in her world in 1992-1993 and were shown in the FNAC photography galleries in Paris as well as the main cities of their spaces throughout France from 1993 to 1996. The show included large silkscreen paintings of Mdvanii. The traveling show was called "Les photographies de BillyBoy* - Le Jardin secret de Mdvanii”.Edmund White
. Dheei, Mdvanii's Afro-European female lover came out in 1990, described as "Intelligent, Beautiful, Elegant". It was at the beginning of the 1990s that Rhogit-Rhogit, Mdvanii's tattooed bisexual lover was introduced along with his Afro-European lover Zhdrick, Dheei's brother. They came in Basic Stud versions as well as Deluxe Edition Giftsets. The male dolls came with human-sized condoms. Since this period most Mdvanii dolls came with condoms and continue to do so to this day and their first catalogues had a Safe Sex
campaign written into them and the Mdvanii storyline.
In 1992, a limited-edition of 1200 signed and number Mdvanii boardgames came out, called "Mdvanii Society". The game was evocative of the type of teenage boardgames of the 1960s but aimed at a very adult audience with references to Parisian high fashion, Parisian mondaine society, sex, notably LGBT
and Queer storylines and Karma
. In 2008 Mdvanii had a brand of cigarettes distributed in Switzerland, flavoured with honey and licorice which came in a box marked "This Is A Work Of Art" and "Mdvaniiism de BillyBoy* & Lala". 500 packages were signed by the artists before being assembled and it was indicated that you may discover the signatures if the box was disassembled. It was also indicated that it should be considered a work of art.
In 1992, a larger, 60 centimeters articulated version of Mdvanii was made, called "Mademoiselle Mdvanii", made in porcelain and in a limited series. She would later be made also of a very hard composition papier-maché. By 2005, a slightly larger Mdvanii 30 centimeters was made in resin and papier maché and were referred to as "Cyber Sexual Mdvanii".
In 1995 and 1996, in collaboration with AIDS-awareness and prevention group Arcat-Sida, FNAC, Vogue, Paris and Vogue Hommes International Mdvanii is again dressed by haute couturiers, and notably paired with Rhogit-Rhogit also dressed by these designers. The designers included: Bernard Sanz for Pierre Balmain
, Sonia Rykiel
, Myriam Schaefer for Nina Ricci prêt-à-porter, Michel Klein for Guy Laroche
, Missoni
, Givenchy
Monsieur, Louis Féraud
, Francesco Smalto, Walter Von Bierendonck, Stéphane Plassier, Lloyd Klein
for The House of Grès
, José Lévy
, Claude Montana
, Giorgio Armani
, Paul Smith
, Ozwald Boateng
, Kenzo, Nuno Gama, Ricci Club (of the House of Nina Ricci
), Josephus Thimister
for Balenciaga
and Dolce & Gabbana
.
In autumn 2000, the "INTRO SPECTRUM" collection was presented by Sumiko Watanabe in Tokyo, Japan. Watanabe explains that "in the first years of porcelain production, Mdvanii and her clan represented a myriad lifestyles but as the exploration of the artists continued, the world of Mdvanii delved deeper into the universe of the human psyche", embodied by the Intro Spectrum Collection of "ultra-visionary high fashion art dolls".
By 2000-2001, the artists, BillyBoy* & Lala, (though Lala was making Mdvanii with BillyBoy* from the very start and it was mentioned as such in the press he was credited more regularly by the Mdvanii cognescenti to have been working on Mdvanii creations as of 1994), the first show which had his name officially to appear was an exposition at Maison d'Ailleurs
Museum of Science Fiction, Utopia and Extraordinary Journeys titled “Mdvanii, Memories from Earth - The artworks of BillyBoy* and Lala". It was curated by the museum's chief curator, Patrick Gyger
. This exhibition featured futuristic Mdvanii artworks (photography, paintings, drawings and sculptures) as well as BillyBoy*’s early works (Mister Modern collages, and paintings). It is also the first time officially and publicly that the Mdvanii work is acknowledged as the osmosis work of BillyBoy* and Lala.
In 2004, the exhibition with accompanying book “Poupées”
In November 2006 - February, 2007, the exhibition “Mdvanii, Ceci n'est pas une poupée” was presented at the mudac (Museum of Design and Contemporary Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland) and Musée de l’Elysée. For the mudac, the show was curated by the museum's chief curator art and design expert Chantal Prod'Hom and for the Musée de l'Elysée, the show was curated by world-famous photography historian and museum chief curator William A. Ewing. The 80-page exhibition catalogue was called simply "BillyBoy" & Lala"
Queer
Art" and use this -ism as a vehicle to express Outsider
sensibilities through the paradox of her Old School
acceptability. Therefore, a Mdvaniiism can be anything glamorous which evokes Mdvanii, anything complimenting the intellectual concept of Mdvanii or anything which the artists give their approbation to.
One of the most recent Mdvaniiisms was three performances which commenced on March 30, 2009 by BillyBoy* & Lala in Carouge, Switzerland at Flux Laboratory based on the unpublished but often excerpted memoires of BillyBoy* entitled"My American Family, In One Era, Out The Other". The event was called "Was BillyBoy* Barbie's Be-atch?"/ Identity. While BillyBoy* sat on a small stage and read his manuscript in regard to his experiences designing Barbie various photos of his career with the commercial doll and television commercials were shown behind him. The recital included an improvised dance performance using trompe l'oeil
knit outfits of iconic Barbie clothes of 1959 (which BillyBoy* created in 1984 after designs he made in the 1970s) to tribal-like music BillyBoy* had recorded in 2008 called "Vroom Vroom" (appearing as a guest on Lala's recent album).This all took place in a gallery room hung with a series of 20 silkscreen paintings making a parody of the Warhol painting representing Barbie which BillyBoy* inspired the artist to create (according to Warhol in his diaries). It was first seen in the book on Barbie which BillyBoy* wrote. The parody of this painting represents a cartoonish Warhol-like head with doll-like hair and a somewhat jaded cellphone-type message face replacing the features. In addition ten gigantic cubes, representing children's toy blocks had the same image looking as if it was worn and old. The ensemble and interaction of these various BillyBoy* & Lala works expressed BillyBoy*'s disillusionment working for Mattel, Barbie's creator and with the stereotyped concept of the American Dream
and represented perfectly an example of the Manifesto Mdvaniiism de BillyBoy* & Lala.
On the occasion of the March 13th 2008 Nuit du Quartier des Bains in Geneva, Switzerland, "Chez Soi, The Liquid Screen House of Tomorrow" Un Mdvaniiisme de BillyBoy* & Lala" in collaboration with furniture designer Philippe Cramer was shown at Cramer + Cramer, the designer's showroom. BillyBoy*'s paintings and sculptures were shown with the Mdvanii works as part of her world. The work represented two futuristic dolls houses conceived by BillyBoy* modeled on his paintings and the designer created the interiors. One was called "Chez Soi - Jour" and the other "Chez Soi - Nuit".
For 2011, there is work by Swiss photographer Frédéric Charrière which has been created in a extremely Deluxe Edition Giftset; a portfolio of original prints presented in a unique box made especially for the dressed Mdvanii doll. Fashion designers Anthony Villarreal (USA), Laurent Mercier (Paris) and custom-made high fashion glovemaker Daniel Storto, (USA) are amongst the guest designers.
Pre-Mdvanii History - 1980 until 1987
Mdvanii was conceived by the artist, collector, social figure, and designer BillyBoy* whose involvement with nostalgic and antique dolls started at a young age. He was a collector of antique French fashion dolls and Kamkins cloth dolls but also BarbieBarbie
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....
dolls and other vintage
Vintage
Vintage, in wine-making, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product . A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine, where Port houses make and...
post-war
Post-war
A post-war period or postwar period is the interval immediately following the ending of a war and enduring as long as war does not resume. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum when a war between the same parties resumes at a later date...
fashion dolls since the early 1970s. He started to re-design dolls for his own amusement, re-painting and re-dressing Barbies but also other commercial dolls from the 1960s and 1970s as a teenager. He received press as early as 1978 he created for Mattel the “Nouveau Théatre de la Mode Barbie”, which was the first Barbie doll bearing a designer’s name on its box, also well as his follow-up Barbie doll for Mattel, USA called "Feelin' Groovy Barbie" in 1986. His book titled "Barbie, Her Life and Times“ was published in the USA by Crown Publishers, accompanied by a world tour of a selection of his vintage and unique haute couturier dressed Barbie dolls called "BillyBoy* Le Nouveau Théatre de la Mode".His book which came out in 1987 was translated into a number of languages for many different editions including Japanese, French, Finnish and German.
Launch
Mdvanii debuted on Valentine's Day in 1989 after two years of development. The doll was introduced as a fashion doll, but the embodiment of an ultra-sophisticated thinking woman of a post-Feminist genre who, in this case, was bisexual. She was the first anatomically-correct fashion doll with an adult (non-parody) storyline including homosexual, lesbian and bisexual personality traits. She was presented with a wardrobe of high fashion clothes made in France with identical construction as human-scale clothes. Mdvanii, referred to as "she" by the artist for which he insisted was also attributed many different intellectual attributes and a precise personality. He claimed Mdvanii had a soulSoul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
and was his avatar
Incarnation
Incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature who is the material manifestation of an entity, god or force whose original nature is immaterial....
. She was launched as the first "fashion doll as art" concept.
Shortly after the Barbie years, BillyBoy* invented Mdvanii as his own "fashion doll", this time not a commercially-made toy, but an artistic creation. Mdvanii is an original concept and patented sculpting, inspired by 1950s and 60s fashion dolls.
Mdvanii was originally conceived as a conceptual art and fashion doll for adults (and particularly art, fashion and doll collectors) by artist BillyBoy*. Since 1990 it has known to have been a collaboration with his life partner, artist Jean Pierre Lestrade (a.k.a Lala). The doll was originally made in a matte Caron make-up toned hard resin and 25 centimeters tall. Mdvanii debuted on February 14, 1989 in London, England.
Pre-Mdvanii History - 1980 until 1987
Mdvanii was conceived by the artist, collector, social figure, and designer BillyBoy* whose involvement with nostalgic and antique dolls started at a young age. He was a collector of antique French fashion dolls and Kamkins cloth dolls but also BarbieBarbie
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....
dolls and other vintage
Vintage
Vintage, in wine-making, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product . A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine, where Port houses make and...
post-war
Post-war
A post-war period or postwar period is the interval immediately following the ending of a war and enduring as long as war does not resume. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum when a war between the same parties resumes at a later date...
fashion dolls since the early 1970s. He started to re-design dolls for his own amusement, re-painting and re-dressing Barbies but also other commercial dolls from the 1960s and 1970s as a teenager. He received press as early as 1978 he created for Mattel the “Nouveau Théatre de la Mode Barbie”, which was the first Barbie doll bearing a designer’s name on its box, also well as his follow-up Barbie doll for Mattel, USA called "Feelin' Groovy Barbie" in 1986. His book titled "Barbie, Her Life and Times“
Launch
Mdvanii debuted on Valentine's Day in 1989 after two years of development. The doll was introduced as a fashion doll, but the embodiment of an ultra-sophisticated thinking woman of a post-Feminist genre who, in this case, was bisexual. She was the first anatomically-correct fashion doll with an adult (non-parody) storyline including homosexual, lesbian and bisexual personality traits. She was presented with a wardrobe of high fashion clothes made in France with identical construction as human-scale clothes. Mdvanii, referred to as "she" by the artist for which he insisted was also attributed many different intellectual attributes and a precise personality. He claimed Mdvanii had a soulSoul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
and was his avatar
Incarnation
Incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature who is the material manifestation of an entity, god or force whose original nature is immaterial....
.
Shortly after the Barbie years, BillyBoy* invented Mdvanii as his own "fashion doll", this time not a commercially-made toy, but an artistic creation. Mdvanii is an original concept and patented sculpting, inspired by 1950s and 60s fashion dolls. http://bases-modeles.inpi.fr/Typo3_INPI_Modeles/dessins_recherche_avancee.html
Mdvanii was originally conceived as a conceptual art and fashion doll for adults (and particularly art, fashion and doll collectors) by artist BillyBoy*. Since 1990 it has known to have been a collaboration with his life partner, artist Jean Pierre Lestrade (a.k.a Lala). The doll was originally made in a matte Caron make-up toned hard resin and 25 centimeters tall. Mdvanii debuted on February 14, 1989 in London, England.
Pre-Mdvanii History - 1980 until 1987
Mdvanii was conceived by the artist, collector, social figure, and designer BillyBoy* whose involvement with nostalgic and antique dolls started at a young age. He was a collector of antique French fashion dolls and Kamkins cloth dolls but also BarbieBarbie
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....
dolls and other vintage
Vintage
Vintage, in wine-making, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product . A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine, where Port houses make and...
post-war
Post-war
A post-war period or postwar period is the interval immediately following the ending of a war and enduring as long as war does not resume. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum when a war between the same parties resumes at a later date...
fashion dolls since the early 1970s. He started to re-design dolls for his own amusement, re-painting and re-dressing Barbies but also other commercial dolls from the 1960s and 1970s as a teenager. He received press as early as 1978 he created for Mattel the “Nouveau Théatre de la Mode Barbie”, which was the first Barbie doll bearing a designer’s name on its box, also well as his follow-up Barbie doll for Mattel, USA called "Feelin' Groovy Barbie" in 1986. His book titled "Barbie, Her Life and Times“
Launch
Mdvanii debuted on Valentine's Day in 1989 after two years of development. The doll was introduced as a fashion doll, but the embodiment of an ultra-sophisticated thinking woman of a post-Feminist genre who, in this case, was bisexual. She was the first anatomically-correct fashion doll with an adult (non-parody) storyline including homosexual, lesbian and bisexual personality traits. She was presented with a wardrobe of high fashion clothes made in France with identical construction as human-scale clothes. Mdvanii, referred to as "she" by the artist for which he insisted was also attributed many different intellectual attributes and a precise personality. He claimed Mdvanii had a soulSoul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
and was his avatar
Incarnation
Incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature who is the material manifestation of an entity, god or force whose original nature is immaterial....
.
Shortly after the Barbie years, BillyBoy* invented Mdvanii as his own "fashion doll", this time not a commercially-made toy, but an artistic creation. Mdvanii is an original concept and patented sculpting, inspired by 1950s and 60s fashion dolls. http://bases-modeles.inpi.fr/Typo3_INPI_Modeles/dessins_recherche_avancee.html The looks originate from BillyBoy*'s Russian-origin mother by adoption. The doll was first made and shown in BillyBoy*'s Paris-based Surreal Bijoux showroom.
The doll clothes designed by BillyBoy* which are worn by Mdvanii are made in the tradition of French haute couture and were originally made in France but since 1997 are also made in Switzerland. They use the same fabrics, embroideries and details as French fashion-makers: Lesage embroideries, Gripoix jewellery details, as well as stocks of fabrics from the collection of BillyBoy*, as Raoul Dufy
Raoul Dufy
Raoul Dufy[p] was a French Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramics and textiles, as well as decorative schemes for public buildings. He is noted for scenes of open-air social events...
printed silk satin made for Paul Poiret
Paul Poiret
Paul Poiret was a French fashion designer. His contributions to twentieth-century fashion have been likened to Picasso's contributions to twentieth-century art.-Early life and career:...
given to him by his daughter Perrine de Wilde (née Poiret), vintage 1940s Schiaparelli
Elsa Schiaparelli
Elsa Schiaparelli was an Italian fashion designer. Along with Coco Chanel, her greatest rival, she is regarded as one of the most prominent figures in fashion between the two World Wars. Starting with knitwear, Schiaparelli's designs were heavily influenced by Surrealists like her collaborators...
satin given to BillyBoy* by the defunct House of Schiaparelli, and a swatch of Sonia Delaunay
Sonia Delaunay
Sonia Delaunay was a Jewish-French artist who, with her husband Robert Delaunay and others, cofounded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes. Her work extends to painting, textile design and stage set design...
painted silk given to BillyBoy* by Delaunay when he was a teen.
Mdvanii was launched at the British department store Liberty & Co. in London, England on the initiative of Carol Lister, head fashion accessories buyer and the stores owner, Richard Stewart Liberty. Mdvanii was humanly-scaled with a right and left foot, was "anatomically correct", a completely hand-made and hand-painted doll. This "effigy" as BillyBoy* called the doll was made from resin in a very limited series and was a new concept. An edition of Mdvanii was made exclusively F.A.O Schwarz
F.A.O. Schwarz
FAO Schwarz is the name of an upscale toy retailer in New York City, located in the General Motors Building on 5th Avenue. It is the oldest operating toy retailer in North America, and is often considered as the New York equivalent of Hamleys in London....
and featured in their catalogues. The launch was tied-in with the premiere issue of Contemporary Doll Magazine Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's is an American department store owned by Macy's, Inc. .Bloomingdale's started in 1861 when brothers Joseph and Lyman G. Bloomingdale started selling hoop-skirts in their Ladies Notions' Shop on Manhattan's Lower East Side...
Mdvanii was shown during the "Vive La France" (1989) promotion, premiering for a gala to benefit The Institut Pasteur and Gay Men's Health Crisis
Gay Men's Health Crisis
The Gay Men's Health Crisis is a New York City-based non-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based AIDS service organization that has led the United States in the fight against AIDS.-1980s:...
and a display was made within the exhibition of 102 pieces of BillyBoy*'s haute couture collection. In Canada for the same show of BillyBoy*'s haute couture collection and the debut of Mdvanii it was sold exclusively through the then House of Christian Dior
Christian Dior
Christian Dior , was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior.-Life:...
designer Gianfranco Ferré
Gianfranco Ferrè
Gianfranco Ferré was a fashion designer also known as "the architect of fashion" for his background and his original attitude toward creating fashion design....
establishment at Le Cours Mont-Royal in Montreal Catalogues for both shows featured prominently Mdvanii and the wardrobe.
Mdvanii was also represented in Paris through a boutique-gallery
Since the very beginning Mdvanii was represented in Japan by Sumiko Watanabe and SW Japan who had exclusive works made for her to show on a regular basis. She represents Mdvanii to this day but also the paintings of BillyBoy*.
"Art within art" concept
Since the year 1989, Mdvanii had within her world "art within art" as the creators called it. It was an express desire to showcase the creator's artist and designer friends and artists whom they admired. She had miniature artworks created by young contemporary artists and designers and her boxed Deluxe Edition Giftset ensembles. In Thailand for Image magazine a layout was given to a series of young designer's furniture made for Mdvanii. Her ensemble of the 1989 debut series, called "Galerie d'art d'avant-garde" had an edition of 200 miniature watercolours by Skall, a young painter of the era, all framed with a cast metal frame from his own art. Later artists such as Duggie FieldsDuggie Fields
Duggie Fields is a British artist, born in Tidworth in 1945 and resident in London, in the Earls Court area.He spent his youth in the English countryside with his family, then briefly studied architecture at Regent Street Polytechnic...
, Jean Marc Dallenegra, Eric Raspaut and Fabrice Janosik
Her hair and wigs were designed by hairdresser Alexandre de Paris. Alexandre de Paris personally did detailed drawings for her hairstyles and his logo, which was created by Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
is placed on all Mdvanii boxes and catalogues. One of her cosmetic face-paints of 1990 was supposed to be designed by Mel Odom
Mel Odom (artist)
Mel Odom is an American artist who has created book covers for numerous novels, including a number of paperback editions of the novels of Patrick White, the Australian winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, and several books by fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay such as The Fionavar Tapestry...
but it was rejected at the last minute by BillyBoy* and never used. Instead, Mdvanii is hand painted by BillyBoy*s life partner, artist Jean Pierre Lestrade (a.k.a Lala). The illustration on her first box, which is predominantly turquoise her signature colour, was created especially for her by French fashion illustrator Rene Gruau
Rene Gruau
René Gruau was a renowned fashion illustrator whose exaggerated portrayal of fashion design through painting has had a lasting effect on the fashion industry...
and her first catalogue interior sketches are by Clyde Smith, who originally did the drawings for the Random House series of Barbie doll books in the early 1960s.
Texts were written for her by writers depicting her imaginary lifestyle through the eyes of each author and music, a classical waltz called "Hommage to Mdvanii" has been written and composed for Mdvanii by classical pianist Nicolas Bloomfield (GB). Poets have been inspired by Mdvanii. Poet Gerard Wozek (USA) has written extensive poems about Mdvanii and her family such as her teenage brother Muio-Bix and the emerging new poet Sunil Narayan, who is American and of Indian heritage has written classical poetry tomes to Soraya, Mdvanii's psychic Indian friend and her brother, the Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
-inspired gay teenage boy called Ishwar. She has been shown in a number of music videos. In the early 1990s, for the song "Little Susie" BillyBoy* art directed and starred in a video for the Japanese girl group Suzy Susie. Of recent, there was notably that of Lala's songs from his album, Lala "Succès damnés" (The Lost Album). "Edie Superstar" showed a "Mdvaniiism" of Mdvanii paintings and dolls and "L'Amour n'a pas de prix" which was created especially for Diane Pernet's "ASVOFF 3 - A Shaded View of Fashion Film 3" (A Shaded View of Fashion Film - her film festival dedicated to fashion) which had its premiere in September 2010 at the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou, Paris, France. It was called "Mdvaniiism - Classic Mdvanii Haute Couture 1989 -1993, A Homage to Monsieur Yves Saint Laurent".
Mdvanii has been photographed by many known photographers including Studio Harcourt
Studio Harcourt
Studio Harcourt is a prestigious photography studio founded in Paris in 1934 by the brothers Lacroix. It is known in particular for its black and-white photographs of movie stars and celebrities, but having one's photo taken at Harcourt a few times during one's life was once considered standard by...
for the The Sunday Times Magazine in London, England. Guy Bourdin
Guy Bourdin
Guy Louis Bourdin , born Guy Louis Banarès, was a French fashion photographer.-Life and career:Guy Louis Banarès was born December 2, 1928, at 7 Rue Popincourt, Paris...
did a cover try for Harper's Bazaar, Paris in 1989.
Press Reception
Mdvanii has had international press in a number of publications such as “Beautiful But No Bimbo: A Doll For The 1990s" in The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
,Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, Vogue Hommes International, Harper's Bazaar
Harper's Bazaar
Harper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...
Elle
Elle (magazine)
Elle is a worldwide magazine of French origin that focuses on women's fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment. Elle is also the world's largest fashion magazine. It was founded by Pierre Lazareff and his wife Hélène Gordon in 1945. The title, in French, means "she".-History:Elle was founded in...
, Glamour
Glamour (magazine)
Glamour is a women's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. Founded in 1939 in the United States, it was originally called Glamour of Hollywood....
, Actuel (France),Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, ARTnews
ARTnews
ARTnews is an arts magazine based in New York, founded by James Clarence Hyde in 1902 as Hyde’s Weekly Art News. It is published 11 times a year.ARTnews covers all art, from ancient to Post-modernism...
, The Sunday Times Magazine
The Sunday Times Magazine
The Sunday Times Magazine is a supplement to The Sunday Times newspaper. It was launched in 1962 and was redesigned in November 2008.-References:...
(Great Britain) and Paris, L'Officiel
L'Officiel
L'Officiel is a French fashion magazine. It has been published in Paris since 1921 and targets upper-income, educated women aged 25 to 49. As of 2006, it had a circulation of 101,719. A men's edition of L'Officiel and eleven foreign editions are also published...
.
Mdvanii was briefly advertised in the specialized Barbie doll collector's magazine called Barbie Bazaar for a few years in the early 1990s.
Reception in the Contemporary Art World and the Doll Collectors World
As Mdvanii was received into a variety of milieux, both the doll collecting world and the contemporary art world she had overlapping reactions to her. The Mdvanii doll created some confusion as doll collectors thought that BillyBoy*, being so well-known and media-ized for his involvement with Barbie doll by Mattel was making a higher end type of doll for doll collectors. She was seen as an appealing fashion doll, but due to her high cost (from $500 US Dollars up to $10,000 US Dollars) led to frustration amongst fashion doll, notably Barbie doll collectors. There was also some doubt in among European art critics, and the concept of an apparent fashion doll was controversial as a work of contemporary art and was not easily accepted even to those to whom she appealed and those who actually purchased her. Though she was thought of and referred to as une oeuvre d'art, it was debated regularly.Mdvanii is in many of the world's museums: Mdvanii is included in Le Musée de Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
in the L’Union centrale des arts décoratifs (UCAD), Musée de la Mode et du Textile
Musée de la Mode et du Textile
The Musée de la Mode et du Textile is a museum of fashion and textiles located in the Louvre in the Ier arrondissement, 107, rue de Rivoli, Paris, France...
(UFAC), which is part of Musée des Arts Décoratifs inaugurated by the Union Française des Arts du Costume in Paris. She is in the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
in London and Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in New York City and in private collections of art and dolls in the world. She has soon acquired by people such as Jackie Onassis, Mr. & Mrs Norman Mailer, Jean Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler and Sonia Rykiel The late Kelly Cole, adopted son of Nat King Cole and brother of singer Natalie Cole would offer his sister the first Dheei doll, best friend to Mdvanii.
Exhibitions and Presentations
In 1993, while BillyBoy* was working on the porcelain version of Mdvanii, the resin Mdvanii is presented as the “Ambassadrice of French High Fashion” by the magazine L’Officiel and was dressed by Thierry MuglerThierry Mugler
Thierry Mugler is a French fashion designer and creator of several perfumes.-Childhood:Mugler was born in Strasbourg, France on 21 December 1948. His passion led him to focus more on drawing than on school and at the age of 9, he began to study classical dance...
, Torrente, Louis Féraud
Louis Feraud
Louis Féraud was a French fashion designer and artist.In 1950, Louis Féraud created his first "Maison de Couture" in Cannes and by 1955 had established a couture house in Paris on the Rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré....
, Guy Laroche
Guy Laroche
Guy Laroche was a French fashion designer and founder of the eponymous company.Laroche began his career in millinery and, from 1949, Laroche worked for Jean Desses and eventually became his assistant. In 1955, he visited the US to investigate new ready-to-wear manufacturing methods...
and Révillon
Révillon
Révillon is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-References:*...
Haute Fourrure and other French haute couturiers and fashion houses, for Révillon she was presented during the runway fashion shows along with the human-sized furs.
L’Officiel ran a 14-page feature story on BillyBoy* and Mdvanii titled “L’incroyable BillyBoy*”. In this article she is shown wearing couture clothes and haute joaillerie by jewelmakers such as Van Cleef and Arpels, Harry Winston
Harry Winston
Harry Winston was an American jeweler. He donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 after owning it for a decade, and traded the Portuguese Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1963.-History:...
, Boucheron
Boucheron
Boucheron is a French jewellery house.-History:The House of Boucheron is a French family dynasty founded by Frederic Boucheron in 1858....
and Cartier
Cartier SA
Cartier S.A., commonly known as Cartier , is a French luxury jeweler and watch manufacturer. The corporation carries the name of the Cartier family of jewellers whose control ended in 1964 and who were known for numerous pieces including the "Bestiary" , the diamond necklace created for Bhupinder...
. She is represented as the "L'Officiel Ambassadrice of French Haute Couture" (“Mdvanii, Mascot of Paris High Fashion”) and was available in a 1940s-inspired Liberty & Co. print outfit designed by BillyBoy* with a subscription through the magazine. She was photographed on a special cover for the magazine. These dolls had a special woven label with the L'Officiel logo in all the garments.
The porcelain versions of Mdvanii as are all the tribe of her friends, lovers and family (of which there are 15 members) are made in Sèvres, France. It was BillyBoy*'s express wish to keep within this French tradition. It was at this point that BillyBoy*, on the advice of Lala, started referring to Mdvanii as "a sculpture with a lifestyle". BillyBoy* did a series of portraits in black and white which feature Mdvanii and the other characters in her world in 1992-1993 and were shown in the FNAC photography galleries in Paris as well as the main cities of their spaces throughout France from 1993 to 1996. The show included large silkscreen paintings of Mdvanii. The traveling show was called "Les photographies de BillyBoy* - Le Jardin secret de Mdvanii”.Edmund White
Edmund White
Edmund Valentine White III is an American author and literary critic. He is a member of the faculty of Princeton University's Program in Creative Writing.- Life and work :...
. Dheei, Mdvanii's Afro-European female lover came out in 1990, described as "Intelligent, Beautiful, Elegant". It was at the beginning of the 1990s that Rhogit-Rhogit, Mdvanii's tattooed bisexual lover was introduced along with his Afro-European lover Zhdrick, Dheei's brother. They came in Basic Stud versions as well as Deluxe Edition Giftsets. The male dolls came with human-sized condoms. Since this period most Mdvanii dolls came with condoms and continue to do so to this day and their first catalogues had a Safe Sex
Safe sex
Safe sex is sexual activity engaged in by people who have taken precautions to protect themselves against sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS. It is also referred to as safer sex or protected sex, while unsafe or unprotected sex is sexual activity engaged in without precautions...
campaign written into them and the Mdvanii storyline.
In 1992, a limited-edition of 1200 signed and number Mdvanii boardgames came out, called "Mdvanii Society". The game was evocative of the type of teenage boardgames of the 1960s but aimed at a very adult audience with references to Parisian high fashion, Parisian mondaine society, sex, notably LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
and Queer storylines and Karma
Karma
Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
. In 2008 Mdvanii had a brand of cigarettes distributed in Switzerland, flavoured with honey and licorice which came in a box marked "This Is A Work Of Art" and "Mdvaniiism de BillyBoy* & Lala". 500 packages were signed by the artists before being assembled and it was indicated that you may discover the signatures if the box was disassembled. It was also indicated that it should be considered a work of art.
In 1992, a larger, 60 centimeters articulated version of Mdvanii was made, called "Mademoiselle Mdvanii", made in porcelain and in a limited series. She would later be made also of a very hard composition papier-maché. By 2005, a slightly larger Mdvanii 30 centimeters was made in resin and papier maché and were referred to as "Cyber Sexual Mdvanii".
In 1995 and 1996, in collaboration with AIDS-awareness and prevention group Arcat-Sida, FNAC, Vogue, Paris and Vogue Hommes International Mdvanii is again dressed by haute couturiers, and notably paired with Rhogit-Rhogit also dressed by these designers. The designers included: Bernard Sanz for Pierre Balmain
Pierre Balmain
Pierre Alexandre Claudius Balmain was a French fashion designer. Known for sophistication and elegance, he once said that "dressmaking is the architecture of movement."...
, Sonia Rykiel
Sonia Rykiel
Sonia Rykiel née Flis is a French fashion designer.Ethnically a Polish-Romanian Jew, Sonia Rykiel was born in Neuilly a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, the eldest of five daughters of a Polish mother and a Romanian father. At the age of 17, she was employed to dress the window...
, Myriam Schaefer for Nina Ricci prêt-à-porter, Michel Klein for Guy Laroche
Guy Laroche
Guy Laroche was a French fashion designer and founder of the eponymous company.Laroche began his career in millinery and, from 1949, Laroche worked for Jean Desses and eventually became his assistant. In 1955, he visited the US to investigate new ready-to-wear manufacturing methods...
, Missoni
Missoni
Missoni is an Italian fashion house based in Varese. It is famous for its unique knitwear, made from a variety of fabrics in colourful patterns. The company was founded by Ottavio and Rosita Missoni in 1953.-Brands:...
, Givenchy
Givenchy
Givenchy is a French brand of clothing, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics with Parfums Givenchy.The house of Givenchy was founded in 1952 by designer Hubert de Givenchy and is a member of Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture et du Pret-a-Porter...
Monsieur, Louis Féraud
Louis Feraud
Louis Féraud was a French fashion designer and artist.In 1950, Louis Féraud created his first "Maison de Couture" in Cannes and by 1955 had established a couture house in Paris on the Rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré....
, Francesco Smalto, Walter Von Bierendonck, Stéphane Plassier, Lloyd Klein
Lloyd Klein
Lloyd Klein is a French-Canadian couturier based in Los Angeles.Klein was born in Montreal, Canada to French parents. Klein is the youngest of four children...
for The House of Grès
Grès
Grès was a French haute couture fashion house. Parfums Grès is the associated perfume house, which still exists, and is now based in Switzerland. -History:...
, José Lévy
Jose Levy
Jose Levy was the theatre practitioner who attempted to import the ghoulish and grisly Grand Guignol aesthetic for London audiences.Levy was born in Portsmouth, England and educated at the Ecole de Commerce, Lausanne....
, Claude Montana
Claude Montana
Claude Montana is a French fashion designer. His company, The House of Montana, founded in 1979, went bankrupt in 1997.Born in Paris in 1949 to a Catalonian father and German mother, Montana began his career by designing papier-mâché jewelry covered with rhinestones...
, Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani is an Italian fashion designer, particularly noted for his menswear. He is known today for his clean, tailored lines. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, and by 2001 was acclaimed as the most successful designer to come out of Italy, with an annual turnover of $1.6 billion and a...
, Paul Smith
Paul Smith (fashion designer)
Sir Paul Smith jr, RDI, is an English fashion designer, whose business and reputation is founded upon his menswear. He is both commercially successful and highly respected within the fashion industry....
, Ozwald Boateng
Ozwald Boateng
Ozwald Boateng OBE is a British-born fashion designer of Ghanaian descent, known for his trade mark twist style on classic British tailoring. Inspired by his father's suits, Boateng opened his first shop on Savile Row at the age of 23.-Biography:...
, Kenzo, Nuno Gama, Ricci Club (of the House of Nina Ricci
Nina Ricci (brand)
Nina Ricci is a fashion house founded by Maria "Nina" Ricci and her son Robert in Paris in 1932, and owned by the Spanish beauty and fashion group Puig since 1998. Nina Ricci designed gowns while Robert managed the business and finances. She worked with the fabrics directly on the mannequin to...
), Josephus Thimister
Josephus Thimister
Josephus Melchior Thimister is a Belgian interior decorator and noted fashion designer who launched his eponymous fashion label, THIMISTER in 1997. In 2001, the editor-in-chief of Vogue USA Anna Wintour named Josephus Thimister as one of the twenty-first best fashion designers...
for Balenciaga
Balenciaga
Balenciaga is a fashion house founded by Cristóbal Balenciaga, a Basque designer, born in the Basque Country, Spain. He had a reputation as a couturier of uncompromising standards and was referred to as "the master of us all" by Christian Dior. His bubble skirts and odd, feminine, yet ultra-modern...
and Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana is an Italian luxury industry fashion house. The company was started by the Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana in Milan, Italy. By 2005 their turnover was €597 million....
.
In autumn 2000, the "INTRO SPECTRUM" collection was presented by Sumiko Watanabe in Tokyo, Japan. Watanabe explains that "in the first years of porcelain production, Mdvanii and her clan represented a myriad lifestyles but as the exploration of the artists continued, the world of Mdvanii delved deeper into the universe of the human psyche", embodied by the Intro Spectrum Collection of "ultra-visionary high fashion art dolls".
By 2000-2001, the artists, BillyBoy* & Lala, (though Lala was making Mdvanii with BillyBoy* from the very start and it was mentioned as such in the press he was credited more regularly by the Mdvanii cognescenti to have been working on Mdvanii creations as of 1994), the first show which had his name officially to appear was an exposition at Maison d'Ailleurs
Maison d'Ailleurs
The Maison d'Ailleurs , is a museum of science fiction, utopia and extraordinary journeys in Yverdon-les-Bains...
Museum of Science Fiction, Utopia and Extraordinary Journeys titled “Mdvanii, Memories from Earth - The artworks of BillyBoy* and Lala". It was curated by the museum's chief curator, Patrick Gyger
Patrick Gyger
Patrick J. Gyger is a Swiss historian and writer. In the 1990s he specialised in medieval studies and in 1998 published the book, L'Épée Et La Corde: Criminalité Et Justice À Fribourg on the topic of crime and justice...
. This exhibition featured futuristic Mdvanii artworks (photography, paintings, drawings and sculptures) as well as BillyBoy*’s early works (Mister Modern collages, and paintings). It is also the first time officially and publicly that the Mdvanii work is acknowledged as the osmosis work of BillyBoy* and Lala.
In 2004, the exhibition with accompanying book “Poupées”
In November 2006 - February, 2007, the exhibition “Mdvanii, Ceci n'est pas une poupée” was presented at the mudac (Museum of Design and Contemporary Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland) and Musée de l’Elysée. For the mudac, the show was curated by the museum's chief curator art and design expert Chantal Prod'Hom and for the Musée de l'Elysée, the show was curated by world-famous photography historian and museum chief curator William A. Ewing. The 80-page exhibition catalogue was called simply "BillyBoy" & Lala"
Manifesto Mdvaniiism & "This Is A Work Of Art" - Mid-1990s until Today
The artists as of 1989 called their work a "Mdvaniiism" between themselves and those who knew them however in the mid-1990s started to use this term publiclly for the work By their definition a Mdvaniiism is "anything which evokes Mdvanii but does not necessarily or actually show her or even a human image". They claim to express Mdvaniiisms and their "Manifesto Mdvaniiism" as "TransgressiveTransgressive art
Transgressive art refers to art forms that aim to transgress; i.e. to outrage or violate basic mores and sensibilities. The term transgressive was first used by American filmmaker Nick Zedd and his Cinema of Transgression in 1985...
Queer
Queer
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual minorities that are not heterosexual, heteronormative, or gender-binary. In the context of Western identity politics the term also acts as a label setting queer-identifying people apart from discourse, ideologies, and lifestyles that typify mainstream LGBT ...
Art" and use this -ism as a vehicle to express Outsider
Outsider Art
The term outsider art was coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for art brut , a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by insane-asylum inmates.While...
sensibilities through the paradox of her Old School
Old school
In slang, old school can refer to anything that is from an earlier era. Old school refers to something that is fairly old and not very recent. Depending on the context and intent, the term can imply a high regard or respect, or be a pejorative...
acceptability. Therefore, a Mdvaniiism can be anything glamorous which evokes Mdvanii, anything complimenting the intellectual concept of Mdvanii or anything which the artists give their approbation to.
One of the most recent Mdvaniiisms was three performances which commenced on March 30, 2009 by BillyBoy* & Lala in Carouge, Switzerland at Flux Laboratory based on the unpublished but often excerpted memoires of BillyBoy* entitled"My American Family, In One Era, Out The Other". The event was called "Was BillyBoy* Barbie's Be-atch?"/ Identity. While BillyBoy* sat on a small stage and read his manuscript in regard to his experiences designing Barbie various photos of his career with the commercial doll and television commercials were shown behind him. The recital included an improvised dance performance using trompe l'oeil
Trompe l'oeil
Trompe-l'œil, which can also be spelled without the hyphen in English as trompe l'oeil, is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three dimensions.-History in painting:Although the phrase has its origin in...
knit outfits of iconic Barbie clothes of 1959 (which BillyBoy* created in 1984 after designs he made in the 1970s) to tribal-like music BillyBoy* had recorded in 2008 called "Vroom Vroom" (appearing as a guest on Lala's recent album).This all took place in a gallery room hung with a series of 20 silkscreen paintings making a parody of the Warhol painting representing Barbie which BillyBoy* inspired the artist to create (according to Warhol in his diaries). It was first seen in the book on Barbie which BillyBoy* wrote. The parody of this painting represents a cartoonish Warhol-like head with doll-like hair and a somewhat jaded cellphone-type message face replacing the features. In addition ten gigantic cubes, representing children's toy blocks had the same image looking as if it was worn and old. The ensemble and interaction of these various BillyBoy* & Lala works expressed BillyBoy*'s disillusionment working for Mattel, Barbie's creator and with the stereotyped concept of the American Dream
American Dream
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each...
and represented perfectly an example of the Manifesto Mdvaniiism de BillyBoy* & Lala.
On the occasion of the March 13th 2008 Nuit du Quartier des Bains in Geneva, Switzerland, "Chez Soi, The Liquid Screen House of Tomorrow" Un Mdvaniiisme de BillyBoy* & Lala" in collaboration with furniture designer Philippe Cramer was shown at Cramer + Cramer, the designer's showroom. BillyBoy*'s paintings and sculptures were shown with the Mdvanii works as part of her world. The work represented two futuristic dolls houses conceived by BillyBoy* modeled on his paintings and the designer created the interiors. One was called "Chez Soi - Jour" and the other "Chez Soi - Nuit".
For 2011, there is work by Swiss photographer Frédéric Charrière which has been created in a extremely Deluxe Edition Giftset; a portfolio of original prints presented in a unique box made especially for the dressed Mdvanii doll. Fashion designers Anthony Villarreal (USA), Laurent Mercier (Paris) and custom-made high fashion glovemaker Daniel Storto, (USA) are amongst the guest designers.