Cover Story

Classic French Chic

Sylvie Groh brings the 1920s alive with her high-quality porcelain fashion dolls.

By Marianne Clay

Unlike most other artists, Sylvie Groh focuses her work on a specific time period, the 1920s. "The choice of this time period," Sylvie explains, "what we French call 'les Annees Folles,' attracted me as it is the first and probably only truly transatlantic artistic movement, American dynamism blended with European joie-de-vivre."

"We have always been interested in the fusion of arts in the Art Deco period," her husband, Philippe, adds, "studying many examples from this time period. Think of the famous ballets — 'Parade' in 1917; 'La Creation du Monde' and 'Within the Quota,' both in 1923; 'Relache' in 1924; and 'Le Train Bleu' in 1925. Then recall the many cinema masterpieces, such as 'L'Inhumaine' by Marcel L'herbier in 1924. The climax of the period was the great 1925 Exposition des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, and the fashion show at Le Pavillon de l'Elegance, with the newly designed mannequins. The Art Deco period is famous for new design in many domains — architecture, interior, furniture, fashion — but curiously no significantly new doll was made." Sylvie is now filling that gap.

Since opening the Sylvie Elegance Studio outside Montreal in 2002, Sylvie has created three different dolls, 20-inch Barbara, 19-inch Annabelle, and 19-1/2-inch Clarisse, and each represents a woman from the mid-1920s. Each has eight points of articulation, at the neck, shoulders, waist, hips, and knees, and in the premiere collection, their arms can be interchanged to create 14 different female models. Each doll, or "mannequins-poupees" as Sylvie and Philippe prefer to call them, symbolizes an active woman in the fashions of the times with its emphasis on a woman's new-found freedom and control.

Each doll represents a different facet of the "new" 1920s woman. Dashing and speed-loving by day, Annabelle becomes "la femme fatale" by night, explains Philippe, who adds that Annabelle's persona was influenced by the Irma Vep character in Louis Feuillade's classic French film series, "Les Vampires." Barbara, he says, "hails from the high bourgeoisie with an excellent education and a taste for the avant-garde. She combines a successful career and chic life. Our young tennis player Clarisse loves to party in fashionable venues and to travel around the world." So, with these backgrounds, each must wear the most exquisite clothes in the finest fabrics.

Sylvie, who designs and produces the dolls, their clothes, and their accessories, offers the dolls in limited editions of 50, while their outfits are limited to as few as three, depending on the availability of the very hard-to-find fabric. The cost of one dressed doll ranges from $2,495 to $3,495, depending on the outfit.

Currently Sylvie is working on a new doll, a male whose code name is Jules, though she's already completed two outfits for him, and she's busily creating new outfits for Annabelle, Barbara, and Clarisse, plus new sets or scenes. These scenes or sets serve as backgrounds for her pieces and are also for sale. Sylvie believes the sets make her dolls come alive as if they are real people gathering for a visit.

"I dreamed the screens," says Philippe, "but they are made by Pierre Leloup, an artisan specializing in Japanese decoration from Montreal. Sylvie imagines everything and makes everything. My help is limited to polishing the porcelain, finding suitable fabric that is, unfortunately, very difficult, and searching for original art to use. And moral support; we've been married for 24 years, and I do the cooking every day."

So far, Sylvie has designed three three-part screens that evoke the seasons, and each is set in the same year in the mid-1920s. She offers "Afternoon au Jardin" to represent a garden party in spring; "Soiree au Theatre" to represent a summer night at the theater; and "Shopping aux Champs-Elysees" to represent a shopping trip in fall and winter. She considers these scenes the foundation of her collection, and she also creates specific models to order. All incorporate original paintings from the 1920s including work by Fernand Schlegel and Felicien Cacan.

"Sylvie builds these like theater sets," Philippe explains. "All her sets are one-of- a-kind and are intended for collectors who appreciate 'l'esprit' of the collection." To further create the right mood, Sylvie and Philippe also offer musical selections of the period to accompany each set.

And to think, a mere three years ago, they lived in Paris, where Sylvie worked as the design manager for a large home appliance company. But she dreamed of the day when she could design and produce her own creations. So when her long-time employer was forced to downsize, they seized the chance to fulfill Sylvie's dream and to start a new life. Within months, they left Paris for the city of Lorraine, outside Montreal, and had started the Sylvie Elegance Studio, producing high-quality, very limited edition porcelain fashion dolls.

As radical as their move might sound, they were not naïve. Sylvie brings an extensive knowledge of design, sculpture, molding, sewing, and the Art Deco period in which she specializes, along with a passion for creating porcelain fashions imbued with that "je-ne-sais-quoi" French elegance. Sylvie, a graduate of both the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts and the Ecole Superieure de Design Industriel de Paris, had also studied doll making with French doll artist Pierre Durdilly in his studio in Amboise near the Loire castles. So, with little hesitation, they packed and moved the thousands of miles.

Much of their new city of Lorraine is preserved as woodland, so the contrast between their old and new lifestyle is sharp. But Sylvie and Philippe couldn't be happier. "Moving from Paris to the city of Lorraine, which is really a suburb of Montreal, was very easy for us," Philippe explains. "As you know, about 80 percent of the population in the province of Quebec speak French, with some little funny differences. The English-speaking citizens can use French as well. So language is no problem at all. What's been truly so wonderful is the people here. Unlike Parisians, the people here are so easygoing. They smile a lot."

Sylvie and Philippe grew up in the Lorraine region of France, an area close to Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium. They married at age 19, and, one day after their wedding in 1981, they moved to Paris to continue their education and to work. They lived and worked in Paris for 21 years, and that, they say, was long enough. "When you live and work in a big city, you feel the constant aggressiveness. I know many Americans have a romantic vision of life in Paris," Philippe says, "but the hard reality of living in Paris is far from romantic."

"We needed fresh air," adds Sylvie.

They get plenty now. Since they don't own a car (or a TV or a lawnmower), they bicycle everywhere, even in the winter. Just as they have found their inspiration in the Art Deco movement, these two former Parisians have found happiness in their new home, lifestyle, and vocation.

For more information, contact Sylvia Elegance Studio via e-mail.