But the real action takes place in the Pucci workshop a floor below. Michael Evert, a sculptor who has collaborated with Pucci for a dozen years, works several days a week here, carving out creations drawn by the many artists under contract with Pucci. A wall next to Evert is covered in sketches by Robert Clyde Anderson, whose angular, sophisticated drawings have appeared in magazines such as wall-paper, Time Warner Inc's trendy British publication. Evert is molding a clay head, the basis for a new female model in a line designed by Anderson that will come out in May.

The artists often sit with Evert to offer tips on how he can stay true to their creative image. The head of this female form, for instance, started out with long, wispy hair; but now the hair is pulled back into a bun.

To mass produce the mannequins, a few dozen workers pour a gooey black fiberglass concoction into molds built from the sculpture. They sand any seams off the finished body parts and clean the pieces for painting. Others work in the sray-painting booths.

Abstract artist
The final touches are added by painters in a side room. Scott Sjobakken, 24-year old artist who lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, answered a `help-wanted' ad in the village voice newspaper a year ago. Sjobakken is an abstract artist with high aspirations, but his day job here pays the bills.

His favorite mannequin line is Dolly, a cross between a 1920s flapper and twiggy designed by Anna Sui. Dollys don't have carved facial features, so they are't a simple paint-by-number job. "They are the best looking ones, and I am actually using some talent to do them", says Sjobakken. He often gets surprised looks when he tells people what he does. "Most of them say the didn't know that job existed", he says. "I didn't either, until a year ago".

(The Asian Wall Street Journal)
(Concluded. The first part of the article appeared on 4th March, 2000))