Fashion for a Blythe spirit

Strutting in a couture Lacroix, she was the toast of the Pret-a-Porter at the recent Paris Fashion Week. At a petite 28 cm (11 inches) without heels, she was wide-eyed and beaming despite the long, 15-hour flight from Tokyo. No less than 60 designers were commissioned to design her outfits for this long-awaited debut in the world’s fashion capital. Her life flashed before our eyes, from her largely unappreciated birth in 1972 in the US, her rediscovery in 1997, her travels around the world leading to her first book in 2000, and her grand comeback in Tokyo in 2001. And now she’s the international supermodel she’s always wanted to be!

With the exception of our dear friend’s new four-month-old teacup Chihuahua named Hector, she’s probably the cutest thing to come our way in a long time. We first saw her face with those endearing eyes printed on T-shirts, bags and purses. Asking the boutique owner in Hong Kong who she was, we were informed her name was Blythe from Japan. What a wonderful name! And she was quite a stunner, even on a flat surface. But nothing will melt your heart like coming face to face with her, which we did when we stumbled upon her Tokyo home, Junie Moon, in Daikanyama. With a disproportionately huge head, a tiny gamine body, shiny auburn hair with bangs, and pursed lips, it’s no wonder she’s such a hit in kawaii-land. A doll never elicited so much emotion since the time Barbie first hit the scene and we got hold of her in our own hands, with the flowing blond hair to turn into all the fantasy coiffs we could think of.

But apparently, Blythe wasn’t quite the celebrity she is now when she was born in 1972. Produced by the now-defunct American toy company Kenner and designed by Marvin Glass & Associates based on drawings by Margaret Keane, her claim to fame was her set of blinkable eyes that changed color from pink to blue to green to orange with the pull of the drawstring at the back of her head. This was scary for most kids then, leaving Blythe on the shelves and eventually forcing her into retirement after only a year. She was definitely too ahead of her time. She languished in limbo for almost 30 years, a mere curiosity for a few doll collectors.

Then, in 1997, the seeds were planted for her comeback. Gina Garan, a TV and video producer, received Blythe as a gift from a friend who thought they resembled one another. Another friend gave her an old camera, which she decided to test with Blythe as the subject. Gina just found the dolls irresistible, started collecting them and bringing at least one of them on her trips around the world, photographing each one in different dresses and locations. The result was a coffee-table book, This Is Blythe, published by Chronicle Books in 2000. Before publication, Gina had shown her photos to Junko Wong of the CWC creative agency, who fell in love with Blythe and decided to endorse her as the image model for the TV advertising spots of Parco Department Store in Japan. At the same time, Takara also bought the rights from Hasbro (Kenner’s successor) to manufacture Blythe for the Japanese market.

After the Parco TV campaign spotlight, Blythe became an overnight sensation in Japan and Asia. On eBay, vintage Blythes jumped in price from $35 to $350. Continuing as Parco’s image girl till 2001, prices even went crazier – up to thousands of dollars. An edition of 1,000 new dolls called Neo-Blythes were produced for Parco and sold out in less than an hour. They were selling for up to four times their original price on the Yahoo auction site in Japan. Other limited-edition Blythes followed like Mondrian, Rosie Red, Holly Wood, All Gold In One, and Sunday Best. Of course, she eventually had a fashion show in Tokyo, with clothes designed by the likes of Issey Miyake, Chisato Tsumori, and Hysteric Glamour.

To meet the demands of a huge fan base, Petite Blythe, a 4-1/2-inch version, was produced in 2002. It was affectionately called "Pucci." Since its Japanese launch, 62 editions of Blythe and 100 editions of Petite Blythe – and counting – have been born. With her success in Japan established, she finally made a triumphant return to the land of her birth. She was, of course, more of a Japanese celebrity and was treated as a novelty. When she came out on television in the VH1 special I Love the ’70s, there were still mixed reviews from the conservative US audience, which described her as "Barbie with elephantiasis" and "a doll version of actress Christina Ricci," among other things. But her popularity caught on and by 2004, the Ashton-Drake Galleries began to produce Blythe replica dolls for the United States market. Collectors started trading on auction sites and began a flourishing Blythe subculture on the Internet, with fora and usergroups in abundance and a network market of Blythe clothiers, designers, and customizers. She has inspired the creation of other oversize-headed, big-eyed dolls like the Korean born, Italian-bred Pullip (born in May 2003).

After a debut on the Paris catwalk, what’s next for the diminutive supermodel? A beauty contest, of course! Titled "Who’s the Fairest of Them All," it hopes to attract hobbyists and collectors from all over the world. Not that she needs to validate her beauty: She’s reached the point of being quite confident in that area, thank you. You may be wondering, what exactly makes Blythe tick? Is it that wide-eyed innocence? Her disproportionate, unconventional animé features? Or could it be the fact that she remains single to this day with no news of a boyfriend? Or that she doesn’t advertise her professional life and remains very private and discreet, unlike the open-book Barbie? These qualities definitely attracted the French, who mobilized 60 designers to dress her up "in total freedom, embodying just what makes French fashion what it is: that mix of styles, diversity, and total liberty of creation." She probably epitomizes what the modern woman would want to be: happily independent, with an air of mystery and inaccessibility, and a deep purse that does not depend on any man to keep her well-dressed in designer frocks!