Mdvanii, Caprice, Persia … and Sevinyl

Caprice, Mdvanii, and Persia dressed dolls.

Mdvanii is a fashion doll for adults conceived by BillyBoy*, the doll was launched on February 14, 1989 at the British department store Liberty & Co. in London, England. The 25 cm tall doll was originally made in a matte Caron make-up toned hard resin. An edition of Mdvanii was made exclusively for F.A.O Schwarz and featured in their catalogues.

Billyboy* had a large collection of fashion dolls, mostly Barbie, dressed by major fashion designers from all over the world. In 1983 he was contacted by Mattel, to create the “Nouveau Théâtre de la Mode Barbie”, and later the follow-up Barbie doll for Mattel, USA called “Feelin’ Groovy Barbie” in 1986.

Mdvanii’s outfits are made in the tradition of French haute couture and were originally made in France but since 1997 are also made in Switzerland. Mdvanii is human-scale with a right and left foot, she is an anatomically correct, completely hand-made, and hand-painted doll. This “effigy” as BillyBoy* called the doll was made in a limited series as a new concept.

Caprice, Mdvanii, and Persia dolls totally naked.

It has been suggested that the Mdvanii is based on the French doll Caprice (shown here for comparison purposes) from the 1960s. Another doll-maker, Darrell Wallace, has created a resin doll based on the Caprice original – this strung doll closely resembles Mdvanii and is also shown here.

Caprice, Mdvanii, and Persia dolls in profile.

The choice of name Mdvanii may have derived from one of the titles of the much-married Barbara Hutton, the American socialite dubbed by the media as the “Poor Little Rich Girl” because of her troubled life, and heiress to the Woolworth fortune. Her first marriage was to Alexis Mdivani, a self-styled Georgian prince, from whom she was divorced in 1935.

Julian Kalinowski’s doll, Sevinyl, followed on from his previous hard plastic doll Severine. Both have Caprice as part of their heritage. As the artist himself explains, “Sevinyl is an exquisite quality vinyl doll. Made from a sumptuous heavy vinyl, she is unusually constructed for a doll of this 11.5 inch, Barbie genre. Like the charming 1960’s French doll Mily, made by Gégé, Sevinyl is strung on elastic. This enables you to pose her very nicely. Her head sculpt is a laser cut copy of Caprice. Sevinyl has rooted hair, and is hand painted by me – she isn’t ‘printed’ in the factory.” This particular Sevinyl brings to mind a British seaside beauty queen, right down to the white high heels and heavy eyeliner.
  • Mdvanii catalog from 1992, Front cover, Paris theme.
  • A selection of ensembles for Mdvanii from the 1992 catalog.
  • Le Smart Set de Mdvanii from the 1992 catalog.
  • Front cover of billyboy*’s Rhogit-Rhogit catalog.
  • Sketches to show the male billyboy* dolls from the Rhogit-Rhogit catalog.
  • Some outfits for the male billyboy* dolls from the Rhogit-Rhogit catalog.
  • Artist’s impressions of the male billyboy* dolls from the Rhogit-Rhogit catalog.
  • Fashion drawings of the male billyboy* dolls from the Rhogit-Rhogit catalog.
A rare black and white print from a press release at the launch of Mdvanii in 1989. The doll was coiffed with human hair: for both her original piscine hairstyle; as well as the bob wig by Alexandre de Paris. Her dress is from the line created for Liberty & Co., in London.
Harking back to the glamorous world of mid-century fashion photography, Mdvanii’s launch photos were taken in the studio using high-key lighting. These rare glimpses of the doll are from press release prints issued to publicize Mdvanii in 1989. Here she wears a check shawl-collar swing coat, with patch pockets, to visit the flower market.
The basic dress-up version of Mdvanii at her launch. This rare press-release photo, shot on black & white film, and printed on glossy stock, shows the doll in all her glory. Mdvanii wears nothing but her jewelry, a sturdy black corset, her signature wig, and perhaps the merest hint of Chanel No.5.

Find more photos of Mdvanii here and here (click the links).

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