Skinny Disney Princesses Have Competition: Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck Glam it up for Barney’s Holiday Campaign (See Photos)
Disney characters such as Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck have undergone a drastic makeover: they've grown a couple of feet taller and seem to have lost a lot of weight.
The characters are almost unrecognizable in their new gig: this year's holiday campaign for Barney New York. Check out their new look here.
Barneys collaborated with Walt Disney to take their characters into a realistic fashion world for their "Electric Holiday" campaign, which is set to debut at their Madison Avenue flagship store on Nov. 14.
Barney's had to out-do their holiday campaign from last year, which was Lady Gaga's workshop, which Barney's creative director Dennis Freedman told Women's Wear Daily, "was a little bit of a hard act to follow."
The campaign's highlight film is about Minnie Mouse's fantasy to attend Paris fashion week. So Minnie Mouse and her pals ditch their drab traditional apparel for designer duds. According to WWD, Mickey Mouse will be dressed in Balenciaga, Minnie Mouse in Lanvin, Goofy in Balmain, Daisy Duck in Dolce & Gabbana, Snow White in Nina Ricci, Cruella de Vil in Rick Owens, and Princess Tiana in Proenza Schouler.
Barneys' creative director Dennis Freedman said his company and Disney decided on the animated characters' looks as a team.
"The animator and I sat next to each other and went over every detail of the clothes - how they're made, what material, how they would move - to get them as accurate as we possibly could," he told WWD.
Freedman even brought in a model so they could study her movements and facial expressions and apply them to the illustrations.
"When we got to the moment when all Disney characters walk on the runway, there was a discussion. The standard Minnie Mouse will not look so good in a Lanvin dress. There was a real moment of silence, because these characters don't change. I said, 'If we're going to make this work, we have to have a 5-foot-11 Minnie,' and they agreed."
Barney's worked with Disney to ensure that the fashion was represented realistically.
"The world of the Paris fashion shows, of fashion, of people in fashion, of the rituals, all of the idiosyncrasies," Freedman said. "The important thing to me was always that it had to be authentic. It really had to hit the nail on the head in every detail."
Disney seems to be interested in the fashion world and is working with several London designers -- including Giles Deacon, Michael van der Ham and Richard Nicoll -- to unveil a Minnie Mouse collaboration during its spring 2013 show.
Barneys will donate 25 percent of sales from Electric Holiday products to an unnamed charity. The company's executives believe their Disney collaboration will be as successful as their Gaga campaign.
"The legendary characters and world created by Disney live in the active mind and memory of virtually every citizen of the world," said Mark Lee, creative director Dennis Freedman and senior vice president Charlotte Blechman.
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