Last week at Pittsburgh, the
Fashion Royalty convention for 2008 took place. Titled " The Jason Wu Event V: The Heist", it lasted from October 2
nd until the 4
th at the Hyatt Regency Pittsburgh International Airport at Pittsburgh. As the
Integrity site said:
Mysteries abound, tragedy has happened: a precious heirloom from the Perrin family jewel collection has been stolen. Who did it? How will the Perrins get the precious stone back and where will this adventure lead? Join us for a fun-filled weekend at the Jason Wu Event V: The Heist and help find an important part of the Perrins’ precious heritage
Are you ready for excitement? Your convention host, Alain Tremblay invites you to join him and his team on an adventure worthy of some of your favorite spy novels, leading you to fabulous Russia in an intrigue totally worthy of Fashion Royalty! Who’s behind it? Is it Natalia and Kyori, or perhaps some mysterious new contender? Now you can be a part of it all! Meet Jason Wu and the rest of the Integrity Toys team and take part in a fun-filled weekend which will feature a special treasure hunt set in the totally stylish environment of FR!
Lots of dolls were unveiled at the event, with new characters appearing and older ones getting the Royal treatment. The concept was influenced a lot from James Bond, especially his Cold War - Russia elements. Lets see what temptations Jason Wu decided to unveil to eager collectors:
First off, from the convention collection, the Hopelessly Captivating
Luchia Z. Styled with a 30s look, she reminds me a bit of Chicago's Velma Kelly . The influence of Mel Odom's Gene dolls is very strong in this year's collection as is the opposite.
With her black bob, raised eyebrows and severe suit, she could play in any 30s film
noir! I think it is the first
Luchia that I kind of like. Her bag is to die for and the pink booties look cute!
Finally, after listening to many collectors demands, an Asian male doll was released! Mission Moscow
Takeo Mizutani, dressed in a pinstripe suit and carrying a samurai sword ( I hope it is included in the accessories) strikes a dashing note among the FR males. He does look like Lukas a bit. I hope it is the hair that does this and the sculpt is different. From the official photos, he still does not look too Asian.
A
giftset of two new ladies was presented,Elements of Surprise,
Lillith and Eden Gift Set - two dolls together, with funky outfits, very 80s style. The colours of the outfits almost hurt my eyes.
And one of the most glamorous
Adeles made, The Muse - she looks something between Grace Jones and Naomi Campbell. Very French chic, she could model for
YSL anytime. She reminds me of his 70s collections.
The first titled Royalty of the evening was Baroness' little sister (?), Giselle
Diefendorf, in a Masterpiece Theatre incarnation. I must say she is quite an improvement over her first release last year. Young Nicole
Kidman anyone? (she shares the Agnes sculpt).
The Baroness herself could not be absent from the proceedings (she is an event doll after all). Drama Behind the Drama Agnes Von Weiss is probably the most stunning doll of this collection, with an outfit that reminds me a lot
Madra Lord's Postcard From Cannes gown. With that
face paint and hair, she's a
dead ringer for Nicole
Kidman.
In the close up photograph below she looks like she could use some retouch - or simply powder! What next,
Botox? She's a doll! I love the fabric of her gown and the embroidered detail.
Thursday at Convention was filled with intrigue and excitement. The dinner event was staged around the storyline that an heirloom jewel was stolen from the
Perrin family and attendees were transformed into agents trying to assist in the jewel's return! Each "agent" attendee received an exciting spy kit, perfect for use with the new
Takeo Mizutani doll! It included a carrying case, Ninja mask, rope, safe, cell phone and other cool spy gear! Also, there was the centerpiece doll for the evening, a beautiful raven-haired Eugenia. She looks somewhere between a 40s gal and a
Versace late 80s model - quite stunning. So here is "Fine Jewel Eugenia":
At the Friday Luncheon at the Convention, Integrity announced the second character in the Hollywood Royalty line: Josephine Baker. Call me anything you like, Josephine is no Hollywood Royalty, she's European Royalty. I was expecting someone from the golden era of
Hollywood like Jean Harlow, Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn or Ginger Rogers. Big
disappointment this one and to top it all, she does not look like Josephine any more than the Lana doll resembles Lana Turner. Some lucky attendees had a chance to purchase a very special Josephine Doll, which recreated her famous "Banana Dance".
In addition, every attendee walked away with, Life of the Party, the convention fashion for the FR ladies. It is modelled here by
Luchia Z (see top of post), again a very 80s look with a 21st century twist. And very nice mix & match possibilities.
A sneak peek at the new
Valia,
Pivoine, was also one of the convention highlights. This version of the doll has an updated body with increased articulation. The new body has the same sculpt as the previous body, but now has 15 points of articulation, including at the wrists, under the bust and at the upper thigh. This newest doll was inspired by Lisa
Fonssagrives and has a more intense facial screening than the previous dolls.
Valia Pivoine is exclusive to
Haute Doll magazine , so visit their website for details.
The convention finished up Saturday with more dolls unveiled and also the convention doll (the one included in the attendee package). First of all,
Eltin, the newest addition to the Dynamite Girls line was presented. She is supposedly a rock star and her first outfit is from her performance in Moscow. 60s galore!
Shirred, Not Shaken Vanessa (an obvious
homage to James Bond) was the centrepiece doll of the evening. Stunning doll but she looks a lot like Obsidian Society Vanessa and the outfit reminds me too much of Agnes from last year's convention along with the Dressmaker Details outfit you can see
one of my Vanessa's model here.
So who was the convention doll? A new character was added to the FR line, called
Tatyana Alexandrova. Looking like a million bucks in an outfit again very
YSL (this time the early 80s) she reminds me oh so much of Victoria
Beckham. One very good reason NOT to get her. Victoria must be very happy.
The jewellery is magnificent - earrings, a hat pin, bracelet and ring - what more can a girl ask for? The blue blouse is magnificent.
A direct exclusive Integrity doll was also there: Nadja De Vries The Illusionist - simply stunning in her African regalia:
And finally the Onyx Veronique Perrin was given to the Deluxe Package holders - she's a basic platinum Vero, dressed like her fellows from the Glamorous basic collection.
Many more small gifts and stuff were given to the attendees and of course many dolls from the regular line were present along with customised ones from the attendees, making for a varied and eventful convention.
All pictures are copyrighted by Integrity Toys and are published with their consent. They are not to be used for any for commercial purposes such as ebay or to sell the any of the dolls. I am not affiliated in any way with Integrity Toys. 
