Oz’s Dorothy, Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch get makeovers
What would happen if the tornado that took farm girl Dorothy Gale for a spin had set her down in a modern fashion designer’s atelier instead of in Oz? Would her blue gingham pinafore and demure white blouse be tossed out like yesterday’s news?
Well, yeah. And Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West would be in for some updating too.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the MGM film that brought the “Wizard of Oz” characters to life when it premiered in August 1939. And the characters are even older, coming from Frank L. Baum’s book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” published in May 1900.
To bring them into the 21st century, Warner Bros. Consumer Products teamed up with the Tonner Doll Co. to enlist some top fashion and costume designers in reimagining what these ladies of Kansas and Oz would look like in today’s haute couture.
Each designer created a look for one of the three female characters. Among the participants: fashion designers Reem Acra, BCBG Max Azria, Erickson Beamon, Chris Benz, Carlos Falchi, Douglas Hannant, Marc Jacobs, Betsey Johnson, Donna Karan Atelier, Byron Lars, Hervé Léger by Max Azria, Jenny Packham, Charlotte Ronson, Anna Sui, Trina Turk, Carmen Marc Valvo and Sue Wong, as well as costume designers Colleen Atwood (“Snow White and the Huntsman”), Ruth Myers (“Ella Enchanted”) and Lyn Paolo (“Scandal,” who designed in partnership with series star Kerry Washington.)
The designs were used to create 20 dolls, which will be on display at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York on Sept. 4 through Sept. 10. Then they are to move to Bloomingdale’s Manhattan flagship for viewing Sept. 12 to Oct. 9.
Meanwhile the 22-inch collectible dolls will be up for auction online from Sept. 4 through Sept. 14 on eBay Giving Works. All proceeds are to be donated to Habitat for Humanity‘s “There’s No Place Like Home” campaign and the dolls will be shipped to their own new homes after the Bloomingdale’s display ends.
