BillyBoy* (born 10 March 1960), also written as Billy Boy, is an American artist, socialite, and fashion designer. By the 1980s, BillyBoy* had become closely associated with Barbie, following a brief but prolific collaboration with Mattel that resulted in two Barbie dolls. A devoted collector, he amassed an extensive Barbie collection and developed a friendship with pop artist Andy Warhol, who used one of his dolls as the basis for the painting Barbie, Portrait of BillyBoy* (1986).
Life and career Born in Vienna, he was adopted by a Russian couple who moved to New York City when he was four.
In 1979 BillyBoy* began to design and manufacture costume jewellery under the label Surreal in Paris.
A bracelet made by BillyBoy* and owned by Elizabeth Taylor was sold at auction in 2011 for $6,875.
BillyBoy* had a collection of over 11,000 Barbie dolls and 3,000 Ken dolls, and in 1987 authored the book Barbie: Her Life and Times. During 1984–1990 Mattel sponsored two tours called (New Theatre of Fashion) curated by BillyBoy*. Like the original 1945 exhibit , the exhibitions consisted of hundreds of dolls—in this case Barbie dolls—wearing miniature outfits made by Yves Saint Laurent and other prominent fashion designers. The exhibition toured France on board a TGV-train entitled . BillyBoy* designed two Barbie dolls for Mattel working as a designer and consultant, "" in 1984 and "Feelin' Groovy" in 1986. After finishing working with Mattel, BillyBoy* formed the "BillyBoy* Toys" company, and in 1989 BillyBoy* and his partner released the Mdvanii fashion doll.
Pop artist Andy Warhol's painting Barbie, Portrait of BillyBoy* was a painting of BillyBoy* depicted as a Barbie doll and was presented to BillyBoy* in New York on 10 February 1986. The painting was gifted to BillyBoy* and hung in his living room. In 2014 the painting sold at the auction house Christie's for £722,500 ($1,161,780). A second version of Warhol's painting, this time with an orange-red background instead of blue, was created for and purchased by Mattel.
In 1978 or 1979 BillyBoy* moved to Paris, where later his shop would be at 6 Rue de la Paix, Paris. In 1993 BillyBoy* and his partner Jean Pierre Lestrade ("Lala") moved to Trouville-sur-Mer in France, then in 1997 to Switzerland, and finally in 2011 to Delémont, the capital of the Canton of Jura and near Basel. On 6 February 2012 BillyBoy* and Jean Pierre Lestrade married at the L’Hôtel de Ville in Délémont.
On 13 February 1998 BillyBoy* and Lestrade founded the non-profit in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland. In 2012 the website of the Foundation was updated to reflect the creation of a future museum in Delémont.
Works
References
Further reading