Groove recently teased an upcoming collaboration with fashion brands gouk and gouk Miyabi via their blog even going to far as to post design sketches of two upcoming releases link. Normally we fans don’t really get to see the designs before they are prototyped so it was kind of interesting to be granted the chance to catch a rare glimpse into the design process of Pullip. Earlier this morning Groove officially announced the collaboration series via their blog it will feature two dolls Pullip SHION which is based on the design of the gouk fashion brand and Pullip KAGEZAKURA which is based on the design of the gouk Miyabi brand.
Pullip SHION and Pullip KAGEZAKURA are to be released in November of 2017, this is to coincide with the release of the autumn/winter collection of gouk and gouk Miyabi which will also be released in November. The dolls will not be released until one month later here in the US. Both dolls have a MSRP of 20000 yen each which with current conversion rates is approximately $183.06. The dolls are available for preorder in Japan as of today, I already see that preorders have opened for them on Groove’s official web store  as well as some of the Japanese sites such as Amiami and Hobbysearch. Hopefully preorders here in the US will open soon as these appear to be a made to order product that needs to be preordered. The end date for preorders is September 3rd.

Pullip SHION Pullip SHION is designed by the gouk fashion brand, before we continue I thought it pertinent to touch on gouk’s design philosophy.

With the theme of a new “Japanese” it is a brand developing casual and mode clothes. Beautiful silhouette and distinctive patterns fascinate many fans and are loved by both young and old. In fall of 2017 gouk has become a collection which reconsidered the beauty of Japan. I gathered kimonos, patterns, flowers and dyed images that imaged Japan and thought back to the beginning, a new Japanese pattern also made a classic pattern using traditional kasuri pattern. Source

My first thought on seeing the promotional photos of Pullip SHION was that she reminded me of a more mature and chic version of Pullip Xiao Fan, this is not a complaint as I love Xiao Fan. From the design sketches I had thought that the other design would be my favorite but I was surprised by just how beautiful Pullip SHION looked in the promotional photos, I like both releases but I had not honestly expected to be so enamored with Pullip SHION.

Pullip SHION will come with a hair ornament, dress, jacket/cardigan, necklace, heels and underwear (as well as the standard collector’s card and stand). Her stock outfit looks very elegant and has a refined silhouette. I love the floral print along the hemline of her dress and I like that the motif continues to one of the arm’s of her cardigan/jacket sleeves, it provides a nice accent to it. Her hair ornament appears to be made of the same kimono-like material that is used to accent her cardigan/jacket, I think that the hair ornament is a lovely way to accessorize this outfit it really seems to complete the look.

Here is the back view of the outfit, very chic! I was delighted when I realized that the floral print continues around the whole of the skirt versus just being on the front it’s a nice little touch.

The dress hiding underneath the kimono-like sleeves of the cardigan/jacket is quite stylish. I like that collar is yellow and oxblood, it provides an interesting contrast and an interesting little pop of color it keeps SHION from being too matchy.

Pullip SHION has a very pleasing face up and piercing blue eyes. Her lips seem to have a bit of a purple tone to them which is very fitting considering her name literally translates to mean “purple toned” it’s a color we don’t see very often so I like that it was utilized. SHION has very elaborate eye makeup with very dramatic eyelashes.

Pullip KAGEZAKURA Pullip KAGEZAKURA is a design by a gouk Miyabi brand, before we continue I thought it pertinent to touch on gouk Miyabi’s design philosophy.

In autumn-winter of 2017 gouk Miyabi has become a collection that
imagined an elegant sweetness with the theme of “wrapping Japanese sweets”. Please expect it in original Japanese pattern drawn finely – Source

Pullip KAGEZAKURA definitely embodies the design philosophy of gouk Miyabi as she definitely looks like an elegantly wrapped sweet! This design seems to just exude youthful charm. When the two designs were presented in sketch form, this was the design that I was most excited for and I must say that it is well executed into doll form. I think because KAGEZAKURA’s design seemed to be more finalized (vector versus hand drawn sketch) we had a more concrete idea of how KAGEZAKURA would look in doll form so the finished product was less of a surprise than SHION.

Pullip KAGEZAKURA will come with a cape, dress, tights or maybe socks, underwear as well as the standard collector’s card and stand. I almost wonder if it is a one-piece dress or if it is a combination of a black shirt and jumper, I assume it’s a dress otherwise I would think it would be mentioned.

I love the red hood, the bow accent is especially nice and adds a whimsical touch. I think whimsical is a good word overall for this design, it has a very fanciful quality to it. I absolutely love the strawberry daifuku pattern that was used for the dress, it’s so vivid and colorful. I like that the tights have a bright bold pattern that stand out in contrast with the pattern of the dress. I also really love the hairstyle that was chose the two braids really suit KAGEZAKURA wonderfully and definitely play up her youthful appearance. 
Back view of Pullip KAGEZAKURA, from the front the accent of the patterned fabric on the hood can be a bit lost but from this view it can really be appreciated.

The red cape hides much of the detail of the dress so I am glad that Groove included a photo of her highlighting the dress so we really get a chance to see it. I like the contrast of the black lace and red feature in the dress it keeps the bright strawberry daifuku-like fabric from overwhelming the design.

Pullip KAGEZAKURA has a very youthful and fresh face, her face up is not overly made up or dramatic. She has nicely detailed eye makeup with long elaborate eyelashes, the dark brown color of which suits her overall design wonderfully if they had been done in black they would have been too dramatic and looked out of place on her. Her lips are a pale almost nude pink which again suits her youthful design quite nicely.

I will be sure to update as more details become available!