Johannesburg - International model and businesswoman Mala Bryan is an avid doll collector, but at some point, she realised she didn't have many dolls that had the same natural curly hair as she did.
“We live in a world where diversity in culture, race and colour is celebrated, so why not translate that to children through playtime from an early age?”
She also realised the few dolls that did look like her were not very affordable.
“I looked to expand my own doll collection as they all started looking the same to me, but realised they are not so easy to come by,” said Bryan.
This is what pushed her to create Malaville. “The Malaville Debut Collection is a range of dolls with a variety of brown skin tones and hair curls, coils and textures, introducing a more diverse representation to the doll market,” she said in a statement about the dolls finally being launched in South Africa.
Bryan also felt the need to make dolls that have careers in the creative fields since “most of the dolls out there tend to gear towards conventional job titles such as doctors and vets”.
The Malaville dolls also embrace a more natural look, with little to no make-up “to move away from the world's skewed and unrealistic portrayal of beauty”.
She's hoping it won't only be children who have fun with her dolls.
“I would love for adults to play with the dolls and connect with their inner child.”
Bryan is from St Lucia in the Caribbean but is now based in Cape Town.
The Star