Three years ago, when I first arrived at Rhodes, one of the first friends I made was Siobhan from Scotland. She had these amazing postcards of Blythe dolls. Weird and yet starangely wonderful photos of dolls in cute clothes and posing in front of New York cabs and walking miniature dogs. Later, I realised Blythe dolls and variations of them are regular fixtures in photography, fashion and film and there is a huge niche market for them.
Blythe was born in 1972 and created by Alison Katzman. She was then discontinued for being a little too freaky and kooky. Katzman was influenced by Margaret Keane’s Twiggy/Mary Quant sixties paintings of large doe eyes, eyelashes and round heads. Blythe was revived by Gina Garan, who had taken to the doll’s big eyes and massive head as a young girl and started a huge personal collection as a woman. She started to take photographs of her Blythes in various clothes and backgrounds. Her book This Is Blythe has sold over 100, 000 copies. Since 2000, the Blythe doll has made reappearances in different mediums. In addition to Garan’s photography, the Ashton-Drake Galleries were given permission to sell US replicas of the doll, selling to adults as collectables and becoming a cult favourite.
The fashion industry has taken to Blythe and made her a regular fixture. In 2009, the late and very great Alexander McQueen used Blythe dolls in his campaign for Target featuring Blythes of all different ethnicities and with a 21st century look. Every year there is a Blythe fashion show in Tokyo where dolls are dressed in designs by names like Miuccia Prada, Gucci and Vivienne Westwood.
My interest in Blythe comes from her uncharacteristic look, almost like a caricature of Christina Ricci, the actress and the way she can be evolved and used in all mediums. My favourite inspiration that has resulted from Blythe is definitely Coraline from the book and film of the same name. It is a definite must-see!
For more on Blythe http://www.thisisblythe.com/blythe_history.php
Photo credits: http://www.nitrolicious.com/blog/2009/02/09/sneak-peek-blythe-for-mcq-alexander-mcqueen-for-target/
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| Blythe Doll for Alexander McQueen Target Campaign, 2009 |
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| Coraline from the film Coraline directed by Henry Selick (2009) and based on the book by Neil Gaiman. |
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| Postcard by Gina Garan |
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