Wisdom Wednesday - FRESH Dolls
I was looking through my local Wal-Mart for an 11.5/12 inch doll with an afro. I found a Barbie with one and almost bought it until my mom looked further down the aisle and found another that was slightly more expensive (by only about one-two dollars) and was fully posable unlike the Barbie Fashionistas (as I told my mom in the car, the one I got on clearance for $3 was only worth $3 - the plastic is really hollow-feeling to me, she has a permeant pose and a faux top and pants). It was a brand called 'Fresh Dolls'. They are the sister brand to 'Positively Perfect', a similar company with similar goals.
The first greeting you get from the website encapsulates this line of dolls, coming from the CEO herself: "To be Fresh is to embrace your look and wear it with confidence. FRESH dolls are an extension of the Positively Perfect doll family. They are called FRESH because they’re a totally new perspective on dolls. These dolls have a variety of custom-blended skin tones ranging from deep mocha, caramel, latte, and even blended. They have authentic facial features, like beautiful full lips, and cute noses and eyes. Their stylish hair features braids, afros, afro-puffs, wavy and curly styles. FRESH doll bodies are specifically designed to be more representative of multicultural young women so they have fuller hips, thighs and more realistic waists. I designed the dolls to be poseable so girls could dream of what they want to become while posing, bending, and playing with their dolls. Since traditional dolls clothes will not fit FRESH bodies, these dolls have their own FRESH fashion line that is “elegance with an edge”. We hope little girls will see their own beauty reflected back to them with FRESH." - Dr. Lisa, CEO, and Founder of EPI [1].
EPI, also World of EPI, stands for Entertainment, Publishing and Inspiration was founded in 2003 by a mother and former professor Dr. Lisa Williams [2]. What inspired her to make this company was watching an updated doll study (like Kenneth and Mamie Clark's study which showed that African-American children would do this) where a child said a doll with her skin color was ugly due to that fact, "like her" before sobbing [2]. In that moment, she knew she had to make dolls for colored girls of all ages. In 2009 [2], she was able to make 'Positively Perfect', which make 14.5 inch and 18-inch dolls with natural hair and custom blended skin tones. They started as two dolls in one retailer but soon became over 20 dolls representing girls of African, Middle Eastern and Latina descent [2] (three groups of girls that deserve more representation in the doll world) and now get sold in many countries, including the ones where the ethnic majority is the one they're representing. During this whole time, Dr. Lisa longed to make a fashion doll line like Barbie [2]. And last year (2017), she made that wish come true with the Fresh doll line [2].
The Fresh doll line has a variety of hairstyles, from afros to curly hairstyles to braided (remember the Egyptian Braids tutorial?) [2]. The bodies are meant to be more realistic instead of being as thin as a twig and are completely posable to allow girls to do whatever they wish with their dolls [2].
I've renamed my doll to Nandi (Di-Di for short) after Shaka Zulu's mother (the name means 'sweet' in Zulu, and this doll is definitely sweet!). I really love her posing ability and her thick thighs! Very charming and cute. She has earrings and a very adorable afro that I can't wait to try and style (not tame or straighten).
Sources
- https://www.thefreshdolls.com/
- https://www.thefreshdolls.com/copy-of-our-story-1
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