As a Peanuts Ambassador, I get amazing opportunities to talk with people who make the Peanuts brand what it is, Iconic. Back in 2015, I interviewed three of the creative geniuses behind the huge success of the Snoopy and Belle in Fashion Exhibit. This year I had the pleasure of speaking with Jill Schulz, the daughter of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz and Melissa Menta, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Peanuts Worldwide LLC, and the producer of the Snoopy and Belle In Fashion Exhibit.
Melissa explained that the current exhibit is a reimagination of an exhibit that first premiered in 1984. The original exhibit was called “Snoopy in Fashion.” They were plush dolls dressed by famous designers like Chanel, Betsey Johnson and everyone you could possibly imagine. Those dolls have been traveling the world ever since.
In 2014 we decided to reimagine the exhibit and got all new designers plus some from the original exhibit. Since then, we’ve been showing the exhibit around the world and adding new designers. There were 25 designers in 2014, but the current exhibit on display at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles has close to 50 sets of dolls representing almost 50 designers. The new dolls in LA come from designers like Rachel Zoe and Academy Award winner Colleen Atwood.
Some of the designers like Betsey Johnson and Diane Von Furstenberg were part of the original exhibit. Other designers we knew had an affinity for Peanuts. We went about it in a really fun way by inviting the designers to participate via an interactive iPad.
Wondering what Charles Schulz would think about all of this Jill explained that she thinks he would have loved it.
My Dad never liked to travel. He always said, “I’ll go anywhere as long as I can be home by noon.” So it was a great feat when he traveled to Paris to see the original exhibit at the Louvre in 1984. It was a testament to his interest and respect to what these designers were doing with their talents in relationship to his characters. There were many other times when he was going to be traveling overseas and would change his mind within 24 hours of leaving and not go. But the 1984 trip was one he looked forward to. He always had a great respect for all people, their art, and entertainment.
A lot of the designs/dolls in the exhibit have the “look” of the designer who created them. Melissa, agreed that they do indeed look a lot like the designers themselves.
J. Mendel came to the exhibit in 2014 and we took a photo of him next to his Snoopy doll. It’s kind of amazing that the same doll can be given such a unique look and personality as to match the designer. Betsey Johnson’s doll oozes her personality. The designers Costello Tagliapietra are a team of two men and look exactly like their dolls. It’s been a lot of fun to see how much fun the designers are having. They get so excited to see the finished product, especially alongside the other designs.
Fact: The designers are given free reign on what they want to do. The only rule that is given to them is that they cannot use real animal fur.
One of my favorite designs this year is from Academy Award winning costume designer Colleen Atwood. She worked on the film Alice and Wonderland so she created a Mad Hatter Snoopy that even has the original cloth from Johnny Depp’s original costume. For Belle, Colleen created a dress reminiscent of Memoirs of a Geisha.
Jill went on to discuss her favorites, and because she lived in the LA during the 80’s and fancied Betsey Johnson, she gravitated towards her designs more but admit that they are are all so great and she couldn’t possibly pick a favorite. Melissa went on to add this about Betsey.. She was part of the exhibit in 1984 and 2014, and when Twentieth Century Fox was preparing for the premiere of the Peanuts film, they asked me who would be good to create a look for Lucy that they could animate for the red carpet. Like Jill, I said “Betsey Johnson.” It was a no-brainer. She’s a special friend to Peanuts.
My fellow brand ambassador Gayle, spoke of the large painted statues located in Sonoma County and was interested to know if something similar would be erected to complement the fashion exhibit. Although nothing is in the works right now, Melissa stated that Anything is possible.
Having written about the exhibit and learning it’s vast history, I wondered what happens to the dolls once the exhibits have ended. I was surprised to learn from Melissa the following information – The 1984 dolls are housed in Japan and Italy. The 2014 dolls don’t have a home yet because they’re traveling so much. After the US tour, we’ll be taking the exhibit abroad again. All the 2014 designers have their own set of dolls as well.
The Snoopy & Belle in Fashion exhibition will visit the following cities:
• Los Angeles/Beverly Center: February 14-March 12
• Denver/Cherry Creek: March 17-April 11
• Sarasota/The Mall at University Town Center: April 17-May 13
• Nashville/The Mall at Green Hills: May 17–June 11
• Fairfax/Fair Oaks Mall: June 23-July 18
• New York/Brookfield Place: September 7-October 1
STAY SOCIAL WITH SNOOPY
Snoopy & Belle In Fashion | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Dianna Ranere 
Comments are closed.