Denis, Dion, Dolls & Design

Denis Bastien of Affordable Designs

By Lisa A. Lawrence

 Reprint from Doll Show Magazine Fall 2002

Walking on the streets of downtown Los Angeles, Denis (pronounced De Knee) Bastien, a French Canadian, was telling his companion that he really wanted to meet Celine Dion someday.  He looked up and there she was!  Just days before her wedding, Celine was in LA on some last minute business.  She was “scheduled to walk” for two hours to fight off jet lag.  Denis approached her and spent the next half-hour walking the streets of LA with her, while both their companions followed at a discreet distance.  This is typical of Denis’ life!

Born in Quebec, Canada, Denis had already lived a full life by the time he was 21.  As he describes it, “I was sort of a child star.”  From age 10 to age 21, Denis performed on TV, Radio, at concerts and had a recording contract.  As he grew into adulthood, Denis’ focus changed.  He obtained a degree in Art, studied Music and Information Technology.  Asked about his work experience, he replies, “I feel I have done a bit of everything; from performer to music teacher, to store manager, to tour guide, computer programmer, computer analyst, Information Technology Manager... and now... fashion designer!  

After 21 years in the IT business, Denis’ job was cut.   Having just planned a trip to New York, he decided to go anyway.  Here, he saw Gene® for the first time at FAO Schwartz.    He had never owned a doll before and, being unemployed, wasn’t about to buy his first one!  Still, over the next few months, Gene kept calling to him.  Denis decided to purchase one Gene doll and design clothes for her so he could “make a bit of money to pay the bills.”   Just as he declared he wanted to meet Dion, Denis declared himself a Gene clothing designer!

The very morning he made this decision, he found that he already had everything he needed!  He already had a huge work studio in his home.  It had work space, a sewing machine, an embroidery machine, a computer, and all sorts of other things necessary to pursue his plan. 

He continued to buy Gene dolls and outfits so he could see what was available.  This was strictly research; he had no intention of keeping them.  80 dolls later, including Gene, Madra®, Trent®, and Violet®, as well as many of their costumes, the dolls appear to be staying!   A customer who wanted an OOAK outfit for Tyler® gave him an Esme®.  Opening up his world beyond Gene et al., he then bought a Tyler, an Eve®, a Brenda Starr®, an Alex®, an Ann Estelle®, a Kitty Collier® and a Betsy McCall®.  Again., these were all bought in the “name of research” while trying to determine his next project.  Denis realized that he was actually more than a designer, he was now a “doll collector,” when he went to the October 2001 Tulsa Gene Convention and was thrilled to purchase the Madra centerpiece.

When he was growing up, Denis’ mother sewed alot.  Denis watched.  At age 15, he approached his mother to make him “yet another new shirt.”  Apparently, Denis’ desire for new clothing far exceeded his mother’s desire to make them.  “Make it yourself.” She replied. He did and it worked!  Until he starting sewing for Gene, Denis hated sewing.  Now, he states. “I am having a ball and in many ways, I am still learning ‘new tricks’ and am becoming a better sewer than I ever was. As for pattern making, it is so logical that for me it is the same thing as programming a computer or making a puzzle. I dream of something and it simply appears in my mind, so putting it on paper, then making it with fabric is for me just another simple task.”

 Denis created his first Gene designs in March 2001. As he stated, “I decided to turn this very first design into the ‘building block’ of what has now become Affordable Designs®.”  Wanting to “make a difference”, Denis researched the whole “doll collecting movement.”  He looked at what was being done, how it was done, and what was missing.  “I wanted to offer top quality designs at affordable prices,” he stated, “I wanted the packaging to be as exquisite as the designs since many of the collectors were keeping their items ‘Mint in Box’. I wanted customers to be happy and wanted to see them come back for more. In less than a year, I have a customer base of almost 500 returning customers, a monthly newsletter, a line of designs that keeps growing and selling out as fast as I can design them... and so many other things in the works.”

 At the Tulsa convention, Denis almost sold out of his design, “Night Before Christmas”.  His customers asked him what his next Christmas outfit would be.  Next?  Denis didn’t have a Next!  But, never one to pass up an opportunity, right on the spot, Denis spouted off a story line as though it had already been written and described the outfits, naming them “White Christmas.”  White Christmas sold out on the spot with pre-sales!  This wasn’t just 25 outfits for Gene.  This was 25 outfits each for Gene, Madra and Trent!

 By Affordable Designs’ one year anniversary, in March 2002, Denis had many designs for each of the four Gene dolls, as well as having added designs for Madame Alexander’s Cissy®, and one for Tyler and friends.  The Cissy design almost sold out just on pre-orders alone.  Additionally, by demand of his customers, Denis started selling patterns of his designs.  After months of research and development, Denis then started selling his own shoes for Trent.  Also, while the outfits didn’t come out until April 2002, Denis had already announced his collaboration with fashion doll designer Vince Nowell who designs his own outfits for Tyler and friends under The Town and Country Sophisticates website. (htttandcsophisticates.homestead.com/Sophisticates.html)  In only a year, Denis had entered the fashion doll clothes market in a big way!  As Denis stated, “The success of Affordable Designs took me by surprise and has now become my full time job. By full time... I mean 18 hours a day... 7 days a week! But I LOVE IT!” 

 I was thinking of interviewing Denis by email, since I’m in California and he’s in Eastern Canada.  But, it didn’t turn out that way.  Denis had entered a Canadian contest to attend a Celine Dion concert being filmed in LA on March 5, 2002.  He called his partner, Jeffrey, who was in Europe on business.  “Come home! He stated, “ I’m going to win  tickets to see Celine!”  “I know you will,”  Jeffrey replied, “but I have work to do.”  Of course, Denis won the tickets!  He called Jeffrey again.  Jeffrey couldn’t come home.  Denis decided he’d take Vince to the concert and announced by email and on various boards that he would be in LA from March 2 through March 5.  I was already scheduled to interview Vince in LA on March 3.  Suddenly, in typical Denis style, it became a joint interview of the two of them!

 One day in April, 2002, members on Vicki’s Board starting asking where they might find boots for Trent.  That very day, Denis declared himself a bootmaker, using his own line of shoes as a working base!  Over the next 5 days, he took many orders for these custom boots and filled these orders promptly.  Being a genius in marketing, Denis realized that, while he could offer the boots on his website, as well as on eBay, he could get even more sales of his shoes by offering the boot pattern for free on his website.  Now, a customer who wants to make their own boots can buy Denis shoes, follow Denis’ pattern, and “Viola!”, Trent has boots!

 Asked about his design process, Denis admits, “It is a mystery to me. I often speak of ‘gremlins’ working for me while I sleep. I wake up with TONS of ideas. I wake up with ways of making them. I work 24 hours a day in many ways. Basically, I come up with an idea. I turn it into a complete concept with garment, accessories, story line, fabric selection, then the prototype, the final pattern, cutting, and sewing. Then come the finishing touches: the accessories, the packaging (each of my designs have their own specific box inserts that contains the story line), then the website, selling, invoicing, accounting, shipping... and then you start all over again.”

Denis offers that he spends quite a bit of time researching.  “I like to make my designs fit into a story line.” He states, “That is another part of this I have a lot of fun with. Once I know when and where, I just go through books, the web, anything that could add to my original idea. For example, Apres-Ski came with a miniature copy of the official St. Moritz Winter Olympic program. Piano Recital came with a complete miniature score of Moonlight Sonata, etc.”  Sometimes, Denis will see a fabric that inspires an outfit.  At other times, he actually designs and prints his own fabric when he can’t find exactly what he wants!  Without even realizing it, apparently at some point, Denis declared himself a fabric designer too!

He confesses that it took him awhile to adjust to the “scale” of the doll clothes and accessories. “I can design something that I will never be able to produce because the scale will not allow a certain draping to occur,” Denis states, “When I work on a design, it takes many prototypes before I feel I am done. I work until I am satisfied. The bodice of Madra's dress in the White Christmas Trio took 17 prototypes, each with a little change to the pattern, until I decided I was ready to produce them. It is part of the creative process.” 

Additionally, Denis has decided to keep his editions limited to 25 outfits.  With the incredible amount of research he puts into each outfit, he gambled on making that investment of time pay off by being able to sell 25 of each outfit.  “Many limited editions sold out within weeks.” He states, “After the first one sold out, I contemplated offering a larger run of a design and the collectors were not happy! 25 is a good number! I will never go to a higher number as I, like the collectors, think that 25 is just enough. As for OOAKs, I have done some in the past but my schedule does not allow it anymore. There are so many other designers doing those that I feel the collectors have their choice of talents if they need to commission something.  As for "bringing back" a design, Denis is emphatic, “I will NEVER do this to the initial 25 customers who purchased a limited edition. When I released Apres-Ski for Trent, I must have received 200 requests for more of it... including requests from people from Ashton-Drake who wanted to include it in their personal collections. After debating this issue, I agreed to come up with an Apres-Ski Revisited – Deluxe Edition, which is based on the original design while being totally different in color and style.

 Denis has even taken great care to design his packaging. ”I am quite proud of my packaging!” He smiles, “It took me over a month to come up with the final design. I wanted something chic, affordable, not too expensive to ship, but that customers would admire as much as the content. My packaging was my first "claim to fame" if you read my feedback of my early eBay days. Nowadays, eBay accounts for less than 5% of my business. Each garment comes in a blue and white box, wrapped in a gold ribbon, the box has a label which lists the content and limited edition number of the item.  It has a gold seal with the name of the doll on it. When you open the box, two pieces of parchment paper are folded over the garment, which is attached to a card that is glued to the bottom of the box. Accessories are always in plastic bags that I insert in the garment card. Each box has a "story block" on the left with the name of the garment, the story line and the edition information printed on a different watermark for each design. The watermark is always inspired by the story line.”

Asked about his plans for the future of Affordable Designs and whether he’d like to have a Gene type business, complete with his own line of dolls, Denis stated emphatically that he wants to keep it small and personal.  “I have to keep it ‘alive’ with new lines, new products but I would not be happy if this was not a ‘one man show.” Denis claims, “I love interacting with my customers, they are my pride and joy and in many ways, my friends. They were sad with me when I lost my cat, they were happy with me when I announced my collaboration with Vince, we were there for each other last September... one of them said to me they felt they were part of a ‘family’. Since then, I always sent a special "Welcome to the Affordable Designs' family" letter to new customers.

“Producing a doll? I do not think so.” He states, “There are so many GREAT dolls out there and the creators, like Mel, are so generous to allow people like me to carry their dream forward that I think I would prefer to leave that to them. Having said that, I know I could come up with a doll, a concept, and a project.  My mind never stops. But for now, Affordable Designs takes all my time.”

It will be interesting to watch Denis in the future to find out what next he will “declare” himself to be!

September 2003 Update

When I contacted Denis to give me a quick update on what he's been up to in the last year, in typical Denis style, I got paragraph after paragraph of his projects.  The very first one is a "Huge Secret Project" that Denis is just finishing up.   I'm  not allowed to divulge it, but it is HUGE!.

Denis' Trent-sized Affordable Shoes were released in 7 colors, with his custom made boots a big hit amongst his customers.  While Denis has given convention workshops on making the boots, as well as allowing High Maintenance to publish his Boot "How-to", Denis has found that most customers prefer to buy his finished boots, rather than make their own!

 

While Denis and his life-partner of 6 years, Jeffrey, had a commitment ceremony in the Summer of 2002, on Aug 23, 2003, they were legally married under the new laws in Ontario, Canada.

Denis has recently added new Accessories to his website: "I have discovered the joy of miniatures!" He exclaims, "I am taking great pleasure in creating intricate miniature accessory sets to complement our doll displays. These include: MINIATURE SEWING KITS (Vintage Sewing Patterns with real instructions - if one can read them so tiny, miniature measuring tapes, tiny scissors, and fabric;

 

MINIATURE PAPER DOLL SETS, MINIATURE TOP SECRET ( What is Trent hiding in there?  Pin-Ups!!!!); and MINIATURE LAVENDER COMFORT ( Bath Set with REAL lavender soap that I make myself!!!)"

In Fall, 2002, Jeffrey was transferred to Paris for 6 months.  Denis was able to join him for the last 4 months, having the time of his life exploring various parts of Europe on their many weekend excursions, as well as soaking up the Paris Fashion scene!  It was in Paris that Denis discovered the joy of working on one-of-a-king commissions. There, he had access to exquisite fabrics which allowed his imagination to soar!  His first design was a replica of a gown he saw in a perfume shop on Les Champ Elysées. 

In Fall, 2002, Jeffrey was transferred to Paris for 6 months.  Denis was able to join him for the last 4 months, having the time of his life exploring various parts of Europe on their many weekend excursions, as well as soaking up the Paris Fashion scene!  It was in Paris that Denis discovered the joy of working on one-of-a-king commissions. There, he had access to exquisite fabrics which allowed his imagination to soar!  His first design was a replica of a gown he saw in a perfume shop on Les Champ Elysées.  

During his four months abroad, Denis kept in contact with his customers via his Paris Travel Log, which told of his weekly adventures!  Ever since his Paris trip, Denis has kept a commission book which is usually booked up more than a month in advance!.

While in Paris, Denis was commissioned to make an outfit for a Super Dollfie®.  "I fell in love with this doll!" He states, "I now carry a full line of designs/patterns for the Mini Super Dollfies, Super Dollfies and Super Dollfies 13.  I have also expanded my line to include Tyler, CED, Tonner models, Cissy, Kitty Collier, and Tiny Kitty.
 

In the past year, Denis has greatly expanded his PATTERN SERIES, with over 70 titles currently available. He is currently working on a series of "JAPANESE GARMENT PATTERN SETs" for each doll he designs for (a list that is ever expanding!)  that will contain multiple garments based on authentic Japanese Tailoring techniques.  One set has already been released and is doing great.  Part 1 ( of a two part set ) has been released for the  Super Dollfies  as well as for Gene/Tyler/Cissy under the "Peach Blossom Kimono Set" title.

Denis is also working on a "TRAVEL ANN IN CANADA - PATTERN SET" inspired by TRAVEL ANN ESTELLE'S recent visit to Affordable Designs (photo travel log on the his website.)  According to Denis, patterns have become a great part of Affordable Designs and are being quoted as some of the "most reliable", "best fitting", "easy to understand" patterns available.

While Denis had just started printing his own fabric when interviewed last year, he now offers his customers "printable fabric sheets" to make their own designs!  "I pre-shrink, pre-treat, mount, and package the strips myself." Denis states, "They are available in 8.5" x 11",  22",  33" or 44" long to accommodate all doll sizes' project!"

 

As usual, Denis doesn't disappoint.  His imagination is endless and his new projects are hampered only by the fact that he's one person doing all the work!