Artists, Fashion Designers and Jewelers Create Custom Dolls For Charity: Frimousses Designers for Darfur.

For the tenth year, UNICEF France's Frimousses Creators bring together the greatest designers, artists and jewelers who put their talent toward helping UNICEF and children worldwide by creating one of a kind dolls that are auctioned with the proceeds going toward vaccinating children in Darfur.



The unique dolls (or in some cases, artworks inspired by dolls) were created by such well-known names and fashion houses as Prada, CHANEL, Gaultier, Gucci, Missoni, Issey Miyake, Olivia Putnam, Philip Pasqua, Mathieu Lehanneur, Dolce and Gabbana and many more. The pieces range from couture dressed Barbies to lithographs, knit dolls to robotic sculptures. To show the path of hope and gather people to believe in tomorrow, this year's theme was "Yes Future!" for which dynamic, lively, modern dolls and art works are the ambassadors of hope and carry the colors of life.

Here's a look at many of the other dolls from the project.
Anne Fontaine:

Agatha Ruiz de la Prada:

Ara Starck:

Agnes b.:

CHANEL:

Chantal Thomas:

Chloe:

Christian Dior:

Dolce and Gabbana:

Elie Saab:

François Clerc:

Frimousse de Coeur:

Gucci:

Issey Miyake:

Jay Ahr:

Jean-Paul Gaultier:

Jerome l'Huillier:

Jean Claude Jitrois:

Lorenz Baumer:

Mac Chaoul:

Mathieu Lehanneur:

Missoni:

Nicolas Saint Gregoire:

Olivia Putnam:

Prada:

Rallye des Princesses:

Valerie Attinelli:

Vincent Darre:

Yulia Yanina:

See all the dolls here.


What Went for The Most Money:
The Artcurial auction, which took place on December 3rd, 2012 at Petit Palais, raised $251,942. The top five pieces which garnered the most money for the cause were:

Lot 17. Carlos CRUZ-DIEZ Couleur Additive Denise B 6/8 2007, sold for $23,613:


Lot 16. DICE KAYEK Poupée Trésor « Lumière » June 2012 // Paris, sold for $16,557:


Lot 21. Claudine DRAI - Galerie de Noirmont, Untitled, August 2012, sold for $8,915:


Lot 5. Philippe PASQUA, Aora 2011 sold for $8,278:


Lot 71. TORRENTE Shina June, 2012 // Paris, sold for $7,642:


The individual results of each lot in the auction can be found here.

In ten years, the auctions of Frimousses Designers have raised over $ 1.5 million, allowing the fund UNICEF vaccination campaigns and saving hundreds of thousands of children.

For this 10th anniversary, UNICEF hopes to ensure the children of Darfur right to be healthy and to grow and thrive, protected from diseases such as measles.

If you want to support the actions of UNICEF for children in Darfur, you can send your donations by check *:

Frimousses Designers for Darfur
UNICEF France
3 rue Duguay Trouin
75006 Paris

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Arek art auction, chanel, charity art auction, custom dolls, designers, dolce and gabbana, fashion design, gucci and unicef, handmade dolls, jean paul gaultier, prada, sculpture

Aminals - Organic Toys Made From Children's Drawings

One of my favorite sites, Inhabitots, introduced me to these fabulous, organic toys made from the actual drawings of little kids, called Aminals in their weekly newsletter.



Each Aminals organic doll is inspired by the brilliant, unfettered imagination that only comes through in children's drawings.

These organic kids toys embody the exaggerated proportions, squiggly lines, and bright colors that come with creative expression at its most honest and fun. From these children's drawings, the designers at Dreaming Lion LLC have created a series of huggable-soft characters, each of whom has its own special story and is ready for new adventures with your children.

Aminals' motto is "from their world, for their world," meaning that the toys have been created from kids' creative lives for the future world that they will inherit.

dady and momey:

sistur and brothr:

duggy and eflant:

ceeta and dinasor:

smal bayr, wayul and liun:



Aminals are made with materials from organic farms, making Aminals safer for your children. Certified organic ingredients, like organic cotton and the low impact and natural vegetable dyes that must be used with it, are free of synthetic poisons that are absorbed into the bloodstream through skin contact, meaning your kid can hug his or her Aminal all he or she wants.

all images and information courtesy of Dreaming Lion LLC and Aminals.

Buy them here.

Aminals is certified by GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) an internationally recognized body that certifies that all fibers and processes involved in the manufacture of Aminals meet strict standards for organic, sustainable and humane textile production. Every processing step that brings Aminals to you, from farming through spinning, weaving, washing and dyeing meet or exceed these criteria.

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Arek children's art, cool kids toys, eco friendly toys, handmade dolls, organic, textiles

DFC Turns Old Art Form Into Modern Chaquira Doll Heads

above left: Lady Peyote, 7.5" tall above right: Lil' Allsort,7.5" tall, $8o5.00 each

A traditional Mexican art, Huichol is the craft of coating wood carved masks, animals, birds, serpents, and forms with wax, onto which tiny crystal beads (chaquira) and colored strings (estambre) are laid or woven with great precision.

DFC, the mexico city based design duo of Tony Moxham and Mauricio Paniagua, has created and is selling individual sculptures using this technique on doll's heads. The result are wonderfully creepy pieces of modern art they call Chaquira sculptures.

Each Chaquira is painstakingly crafted by using the huichol technique on beeswax coated plastic doll heads (some still with hair). measuring an average of 6" tall, they'd be amazing as a collection. You can commission a custom one as well.

Pris, $690.00:

Prince Mushi I, 7.5" tall, $747.50:

Prince Mushi II, 7.5" tall, $747.50:

Kikin, 6" tall, $690.00:

Starchild Chaquira sculpture, $747.50:

Starlet Chaquira Sculpture, 6" tall, $747.50

Good Luck Baby Chaquira Sculpture, 13" long, $2,990.00:

To purchase one of the above Chaquira sculptures or to order a custom one, contact them here.

To see examples of traditional huichol artworks, go here.


DFC makes many fabulous pieces, see more here.

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Arek custom dolls, fine art, handmade dolls, modern art, modern objects, modern sculpture