RAGDOLL's PINK PALACE 

Over the past year (2018), Carol Chavana’s Ragdoll Pink Palace has grown into a premiere location for fashion photographers, music video directors and visual creatives alike.  Fusing the aesthetic flair of the famed Madonna Inn with her own personal style, she has created a life-sized dollhouse where creatives can play dress up, rekindle  their childhood imaginations and escape to a wonderland of visual enchantment. 

Following an inspired internship for fashion designer, Betsey Johnson in New York (Summer 2006), Carol graduated from the University of Texas at Austin (2008) with a Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design and made the pilgrimage to Los Angeles in full pursuit of a design career of her own. Carol worked a steady stream of gigs as a stylist and creative director for fashion photoshoots before landing a job at a major corporate apparel company.  The following six years of liaising with factories and poring over never ending excel spreadsheets proved trying for a creative mind looking to grow. During her lunches Carol would escape to nearby thrift stores where she would get lost in search of hidden treasures and sketch, and it is here she began to cultivate her own design sensibilities for a visual experience that could one day capture the wonder and playfulness of childhood. 

During one of these lunch hour escapes in late 2015, Carol experienced a chilling event that would lead her to a moment of clarity and propel her to finally risk everything in pursuit of her creative ambition. While driving through an intersection on a green light, she narrowly avoided an accident where a young man was struck by oncoming traffic. The violence of the moment, his cries of pain, the blood on the asphalt, all shook Carol as she ran from her car to assist. Upon following up with his care, Carol learned the man had become paralyzed. The severity of his experience led Carol to contemplate her own life, and within days she quit her job to finally begin the process of channeling all of her design experience and creative passion into a visual space that would soon become the Ragdoll Pink Palace. 

After over a year of development and renovation of each themed room, utilizing her own artwork along with the antique pieces and vintage costumes she had amassed over the years, Carol opened the doors in June of 2017. Over the following months a groundswell of interest began to develop on social media as a litany of talented creatives from photographers, models and music video directors came to escape and capture their own personal take on the whimsical experience that continues to evolve in Carol Chavana’s Ragdoll Pink Palace.

Designed and created by Carol Chavana. Inspired by Jayne Mansfield's Pink Palace, vintage Barbie costumes and shades of pink and red lipstick. The overall concept was inspired by playing dress up with Barbie, adventure time at Walt Disney Theme Parks and watching Lana Del Rey music videos. All decor, costumes and props were purchased at local thrift stores and craigslist ads. Entire home was created with passion and love.