Mdvanii
Mdvanii was originally conceived as a conceptual art and fashion doll for adults by artist BillyBoy*. Since 1990, it has been a collaboration with his life partner, artist Jean Pierre Lestrade. The tall doll was originally made in a matte Caron make-up toned hard resin. Mdvanii debuted on February 14, 1989 in London, England.
Pre-Mdvanii history (1980–1987)
Mdvanii was conceived by the artist, collector, social figure, and designer BillyBoy* whose involvement with nostalgic and antique dolls started at a young age. The name was inspired by the sculptor and fashion icon Roussy Mdivani, who appeared to him in a dream. He was a collector of antique French fashion dolls and Kamkins cloth dolls but also Barbie 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 in notably France and other European countries and the US for his work as an artist and in high fashion which frequently mentioned his passion for dolls. He also at this date had a large collection of fashion dolls, mostly Barbie dolls dressed by major fashion designers from all over the world made for him personally by the designers he befriended or knew. In 1983 he was contacted by Mattel France after an article in French Elle magazine appeared. By early 1984 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 US 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".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. It was the first anatomically correct fashion doll with an adult storyline including homosexual, lesbian and bisexual personality traits. It 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 soul and was his avatar. It 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. 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, 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 handmade 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 for F.A.O Schwarz and featured in their catalogues. The launch was tied-in with the premiere issue of Contemporary Doll Magazine where one of the Mdvanii F.A.O Schwarz Exclusives called Notre Dame was featured on the cover. The dolls featured in the New York store on 5th Avenue wore a wide variety of fashions and included detailed embroidered gowns which retailed for US$3,000 all the way up to $10,000 The doll's house, for which only ten examples were made, cost US$20,000. In New York City, at Bloomingdale's Mdvanii was shown during the "Vive La France" 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 which was entirely decorated in Schiaparelli Shocking pink and Paul Poiret-inspired furniture designed by the artists along with originals by Poiret's school of design called Atelier Martine. On the door was written "Luxe, Poupées et Volupté", paraphrasing Charles Baudelaire's famous words “Luxe, calme et volupté”.
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 its 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. It had miniature artworks created by young contemporary artists and designers and 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. The 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 Fields, Jean Marc Dallenegra, Eric Raspaut and Fabrice Janosik did paintings and photographers Antoine Giacomoni, Pierre Rutschi, Christine Spengler did images. An edition of 10 hand-painted renditions of Man Ray's painting “A l’heure de l’Observatoire, les amoureux” painted by Lala came with the ““Hommage à Schiaparelli” Deluxe Edition Giftset for Mdvanii.The hair and wigs were designed by hairdresser Alexandre de Paris. Alexandre de Paris personally did detailed drawings for hairstyles and his logo, which was created by Jean Cocteau is placed on all Mdvanii boxes and catalogues. One of the 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. The illustration on the first box, which is predominantly turquoise, the signature colour, was created by French fashion illustrator Rene Gruau and the 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 depicting an 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. Poets have been inspired by Mdvanii. Poet Gerard Wozek has written extensive poems about Mdvanii and the family such as a teenage brother Muio-Bix and the emerging Sunil Narayan, an American poet of Indian heritage, who composed classical poems to characters such as Soraya, Mdvanii's psychic Indian friend, and Ishwar, a Bollywood-inspired gay teenage boy. 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. More recently, Lala's songs from the album Succès damnés have incorporated "Mdvaniiism." The video for "Edie Superstar" featured Mdvanii paintings and dolls. Another notable creation, "L'Amour n'a pas de prix," was specifically made for Diane Pernet's ASVOFF 3 – A Shaded View of Fashion Film 3, a film festival dedicated to fashion. This video premiered in September 2010 at the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou in Paris and was titled "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 Sunday Times Magazine in London, England. Guy Bourdin 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 Times,''Vogue, Vogue Hommes International, Harper's Bazaar Elle, Glamour, Actuel,Playboy, ARTnews, The Sunday Times Magazine 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.