A supermodel’s Modoll: into the future

Meet the doll version of supermodel Lindsey Wixon: Modoll. Created by the New York based photographer and video director team Santiago & Mauricio . Modoll is a multidisciplinary project based on a 3D printed doll of the American model. It is a stunning crossover : the craftsmanship of the hair and make up as well as the fashion she wears collides with the sophisticated technology involved in making the 3D doll. Unlike other doll projects, Modoll has a science fiction element to it that makes it incomparable.

The methods used for developing this project, as well as Wixson’s involvement throughout the process, allowed to create an innovative doll that captures her unique features and reflects her personality, charisma and beauty.

MODOLL is the result of several months of study and experimentation with the latest 3D scanning and printing techniques, making it the first fashion doll of its kind.

I have the opportunity to ask a few questions to the team behind the Modoll Project. Here are their great answers.

The Luxonomist: As a photographer and video maker team  used to working with the most beautiful girls in the world, why did you feel the need to go beyond the film capture of Lindsey?

Santiago & Mauricio: We had been wanting to do something with 3D printing for some time, technology fascinates us, it’s amazing to be able to use all different kinds of tools to achieve any kind of creative result. It’s really not about technique at all. There has been other projects related to 3D printing and fashion but we felt none of them had any real use, as sometimes sculptures tend to only exist. This is a real doll, you can use it, dress it, comb her hair, or even photograph it or animate it… you give it life of its own. We think it’s cool to create something useful and not just another printed magazine editorial that eventually fades from people’s minds after some time.

THE PROJECT. Watch below the creators Santiago and Mauricio Sierra explain their Modoll project.

THE FACE. MODOLL’s face has been achieved through a process of 3D scans that have created digital replicas of Lindsey Wixson’s face and capturing her unique personality. 

Lindsay has a unique face. Round cheeks, huge eyes, dimples, full lips and a gap-tooth smile. Lindsay tells The Sunday Times: “What I usually get is, ‘Wow! You look like a doll», she says. “They will reference a kind of doll, and, depending on which country I’m in, I often don’t know the one they are talking about”.

3D SCANNING. Lindsey’s face structure and unique physical attributes have been transferred directly to the design of the doll by using cutting edge 3D scanning technology.

3D PRINTING. MODOLL prototypes have been created by using the most advanced 3D printing techniques available. Printed in collaboration with Fauxograph in New York City, each MODOLL has been carefully made to the highest standards in the industry.  

The Luxonomist: Why did you want to «create an image that you could touch”,  what does the touching element add to the experience of contemplating a beautiful but removed supermodel?

Santiago & Mauricio: We grew up looking at classic art, artists back then weren’t so much “inside a box”, some artists would move seamlessly between painting, sculpting some even into architecture or even philosophy and science.

We feel that today’s artists are easily put into a box (either by themselves or by other people), if you do this you are this or that, either you belong in fashion or in contemporary art or in film. Crossover between disciplines can get a bit complicated at times as sometimes as an artist you can get caught up in the why am I doing this, where do I belong, questions.

The thing is that in reality we are living an incredibly interesting time, the internet came to change all the paradigms, so did personal computers entering an era of “do it yourself” so it’s a perfect time for experimentation, to create interesting collaborations and to cross over. The dream is to be in between many different industries.

POLISHING & MAKEUP. During this stage, refining and polishing will help give the desired texture and finishing to the face and body. Makeup artist Ralph Siciliano gives us a insight into what it takes to create looks for MODOLL.

HAIR. For this project hair stylist Thanos Samaras has created a series of styles to go with the different fashion looks. We get a close look on how he works to create these unique pieces.   

FASHION. Renowned fashion stylist Charlotte Stockdale handpicked some of her favorite looks of the season. In this interview with AY Collective we learn how the looks were executed and custom fit for MODOLL. Lindsay Wixon is dressed in some of the most exciting looks of AW 2015 collections.  All fashion was reproduced in scale by AY Collective.

The Luxonomist: Why try to infuse her essence into another medium, a medium that is so technical and  removed from photography? Lets say more static and contemplative? Or do you think that the doll image of Lindsey is an object that girls will play with, dress, undress, make up, hairdress and thus render more tangible?

Santiago & Mauricio: We absolutely love photography but also we like painting, drawing, animation, video, etc. We believe that if you are a photographer it’s irrelevant to get inspired in photography, by using different tools you allow yourself to grow further and eventually push photography to evolve as medium. The lines are getting blurred and we believe it’s really about image making, 2D, 3D or even 4D, it’s all the same. We are very into hyperrealism, it’s about immersing yourself into an experience or the inverse: bringing the image into the “real world”.

The Luxonomist: On another subject, that of the technology that you embrace and that of Artificial Intelligence….did you see the film Ex Machina? would you like to give your Modoll girls AI? Or does this world not tempt you?

Santiago & Mauricio: We are big science fiction fans. I guess it comes from our dad… he used to make us watch Space Odyssey (his favorite film) since we were 6 and 8. So yes AI is a big inspiration in our work. There is a new era in film, entertainment and I guess also modeling, in which models will become digital and they will compete against “real models”. There have been various movies about this, S1M0NE and The Congress are examples of this.. but really it’s already happening in music just like Gorillaz and the japanese pop star Hatsune Miku.

*Photo credit: all images by Santiago & Mauricio.*Video credit: all videos directed and produced by Santiago & Mauricio *MODOLL: CREATED by SANTIAGO & MAURICIO / STYLED by CHARLOTTE STOCKDALE / FASHION CREATED by AY COLLECTIVE / HAIR by THANOS SAMARAS / MAKEUP by RALPH SICILIANO / 3D PRINTED by FAUXOGRAPH NYC.