The joining of such two worlds had an immediate impact and soon became known for its excellence and refined taste, which has been brought to always higher levels during the following years by attending several specialization courses, such as painting and design, history of costume and tailoring, leading Mario and Gianni to the way towards the fashion system. In a very few years they started participating in the main shows, trade fairs and convention in Italy but especially abroad, where they managed to be the first Italian artist doll designers to enter and be recognised onto the USA market. Their elegant, rich, fully detailed style, which takes a lot of inspiration from the Italian Haute Couture, has been their distinguishing tract from the beginning of their adventure. Their creations are nowadays the most sought-after ones by collectors from all over the world. They also donated several dolls to charity events, with enthusiastic results.
All this led to significant co-operations; in 2003, with the help of a specialized Italian company who helped producing the quantities, they designed the first, one and only official Brigitte Bardot doll, a world exclusive obtained to reproduce the iconic French Diva as a doll. But it is 2006 which made their dreams turn into reality: Magia2000 were chosen by the Executive Committee of the US Barbie National Convention and by Mattel to be that year’s souvenir doll designer. So they created “Barbie Film Noir®”, which was presented in L.A. during that big event and which immediately became a prestigious, much desired doll for most collectors, and is up to day still the only Mattel convention doll designed by a foreign team. “ Barbie Film Noir®” is a tribute to Hollywood Golden Age and to its iconic divas such Marylin Monroe, Grace Kelly e Rita Hayworth.
From their beginning, Magia2000 have been creating several celebrity dolls dedicated mainly to Madonna, Cher and many others, transforming the glamour and the allure of such icons into miniatures, and combining those with the unrivalled Italian handwork ability.
Today, Magia2000 collaborates on a regular basis with Mattel to realize special Barbies, such “Barbie Caterina De Medici”, whose creation they have supervised, introduced in January, 2008 at the event “Barbie a Corte” during the Pitti Bimbo trade fair show, as well as some Barbie-related events which will take place in 2009 to celebrate her 50th Birthday (Anniversary). Recently, Mario and Gianni have been asked by Simona Ventura (Italian Tv-Star) to produce a small collection of 30 dolls, inspired by and dedicated to her person, fashion style and personality. These dolls have been personally given by Simona as a precious gift to some of her dearest friends: Giorgio Armani, Valentino, Mara Venier and other celebs. Now that Magia2000 have acquired a solid and high-quality background, they have been chosen to realize one set of one-of-a-kind doll on the occasion of the exhibit “Simply Madonna” which will take place in London at the Old Truman Brewery Museum, as a tribute to the greatest icon and pop diva of our times. This is a prestigious and ambitious project, which crowns their passionate love for the Diva and which will make them part of this first international event dedicated to Madonna. More than 300 items will be shown among her most popular outfits, beside Magia 2000 dolls accurately miniaturizing, as OOAKs, Madonna’s style and image evolution throughout the years. Moreover, two among these dolls will be offered to a charity auction organized by Marquee Capital, a renown auction house specialized in entertainment memorabilia.
In 2009, their collaboration with Mattel Italy has grown deeply, working for most of the 50th Anniversary events in Italy, as visual designers for Barbie Party at Colette (Paris), Barbie goes design with Kartell (Milano) during the Design Week in April,for Vogue Fashion Night Out in Milano at Biffi Boutique.
For the Barbie Birthday Party at LaRinascente (Milan) , they created a special OOAK Barbie as Michelle Hunziker, wearing a replica dress of Armani Prive', which was extraodinary authorized by Giorgio Armani.
For the iconic and colletible "The Balck barbie Issue", edited by Vogue Italy in July 2009, they were called as designers from Mattel and Vogue to create and style most of the dolls in the issue and were also featured with several of their dolls inside the book. Some of these incredible dolls were auctioned last 23rd November by Christie's for AIRC, at the annual Vogue Charity Auction.
Moreover they donated a special OOAK Barbie, called "Magia in the Spotlight", at the "Barbie Auction in Florence", auctioned by Sotheby's and raising money for Save the Children.
Magia2000, the artistic duo formed by Mario Paglino and Gianni Grossi, was playfully originated in 1999, during a warm sunny day, chaperoned by a playline Barbie sold as a magazine gadget. This way, the pure pleasure of play entered their adult lives. After a few months, playing became collecting and then artistic passion, when the two guys started using all fashion dolls which were available on the market to create their first, humble attempts of OOAK (one-of-a-kind) dolls. Grown up with a passion for fashion, Mario exploited his tailoring talents learned from his grandmother as well as his taste for the Manga-style design, while Gianni developed the creative taste, which came from his profession of graphic advertiser, and his knowledge of the various couture materials.
