Princess Shabie: Designer Dolls for Charity

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Designer Dolls for Charity

When Jeffrey Kalinsky began contemplating how best to mark the tenth anniversary of Jeffrey, his high-fashion store in the Meatpacking District, he knew he wanted to do something special. Not just a big party but something unique, a project that all the designers featured in the shop—a roster of virtually every big name from Stella McCartney to Dries Van Noten, Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz to Phoebe Philo of Céline, Narciso Rodriguez to L’Wren Scott, Raf Simons to Miuccia Prada—could get involved with. And of course it would also have to support AIDS and breast cancer charities, causes that the retailer has championed for years. Something lovers of fashion couldn’t live without! Something designers could really have fun with!

So he called on Jason Wu, lately famous for dressing Michelle Obama in a one-shouldered chiffon Inaugural gown, but before that the go-to guy for fashion dolls. Kalinsky asked Wu to create dolls that he would then send to designers, asking them to dress the dolls in miniature versions of their signature ensembles. Then, Jeffrey would auction them off to benefit his favorite causes.

Almost 70 designers readily agreed. Jeffrey sent them the dolls, and in rapid order they returned the miniature mannequins resplendent in all the hallmarks of the season—peaked, pinched shoulders from Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy, sexy slashed hemlines courtesy of Christophe Decarnin at Balmain, a pint-size suede maxi over a chiffon frock by Christopher Bailey at Burberry, a tiny Proenza Schouler fan sporting her own teeny-weeny purple PS1 handbag.

Great care has been taken to attire these diminutive fashion plates in the looks of the season—in fact, viewing them gives you a crash course in high style circa fall 2009. On August 10, the dolls will be unveiled in their own area of the store in an installation that Kalinsky promises will evoke a dramatically scaled-down Jeffrey, with foot-high shoppers clad in Rodarte and de la Renta, Margiela and Mizrahi, strolling and lolling.

Warning: You will want them all. Kalinsky expects the bidding to be quite swift (the starting bid is set at $250; call Jeffrey New York at 212-206-1272 for more information), especially during Fashion’s Night Out, the multi-city retail extravaganza planned for September 10, during Fashion Week, when virtually every chic shop is staying up late and hosting special events. The auction will close on the last day of Fashion Week, at which time, if you are very lucky, an exquisite little man resplendent in Thom Browne or Gucci and his equally itsy-bitsy consort in Rick Owens or RM by Roland Mouret will depart Jeffrey and come to live on a shelf in your house.

Here are the dolls:
Yves Saint Laurent dolls