All dolled up

Aiesha Ali designs clothes and dresses up her little dolls, each of which has a name and an interesting backstory.
Aiesha Ali’s collection include rare, expensive and collector items. (Photo | Debadatta Mallick, EPS)
Aiesha Ali’s collection include rare, expensive and collector items. (Photo | Debadatta Mallick, EPS)

CHENNAI : The doll in Aiesha Ali’s hand is an exact replica of Bollywood star Katrina Kaif— right down to the clothes she wears. Adjusting the doll’s skirt, she says, “She was actually released as part of the promotional material for Dhoom 3.”

Aiesha refers to every doll in her house in Ashok Nagar — which is covered with dolls, figurines and other toys — as ‘she’ or ‘he’, and holds them tenderly in her hands. The 34-year-old not only collects dolls, but also designs clothes for them, and dresses a few up in homage to various Bollywood celebrities.

Dreaming about dolls

“I was four years old when my father got me my first doll. I remember her so well — obviously because she was my first. She was a 1984 Birthday Barbie. She wore a polka-dotted dress and a little locket. I think that was when it all started,” says Aiesha. In her home in Mumbai, she had amassed over 50 different kinds of dolls, with her parents getting her new ones every few months.

Her love for dolls as a child stayed with her well into adulthood. Although her entire collection was lost due to logistical issues, she continued to collect dolls, and her current collection is 30-strong.

These include rare, expensive and collector items such as the 60th anniversary Barbie, which costs Rs 2,999. Her husband, Zea Ali, helps scout the market and set up deals with the sellers. They usually buy dolls online or at thrift shops.

“Every one of them has a name and a backstory. It may seem childish to many, but it really helps me when I’m trying to think of new clothes or designs for them. It helps me build a storyline for some of my creations,” she says. The dolls are kept away in boxes and cleaned weekly. Some of her collector’s edition items are not opened until absolutely necessary, as damage to these dolls affects their value.

Recreating looks

“When I was around 12 or 13 years old, I saw Karisma Kapoor’s wedding, where she wore this beautiful pink designer gown by Manish Malhotra. That was the first time a celebrity had worn a designer gown for their wedding. I remember wanting a pink dress for my dolls after that wedding, and tried to recreate it with a pink cloth and rubber bands,” says Aiesha.

Using a few scraps of her mother’s dupatta, she began designing clothes for her dolls. Now, she designs and makes clothes for the dolls using scrap fabric from tailors and sequins bought from T Nagar.

She completed her diploma course in fashion technology at IIT Bombay in 2001, and now posts pictures of her designs on her Instagram page, @barbiegalaxy_.

“I am inspired by couture brands. I love the avant-garde style fashion, which translates so well on dolls. It’s all about the impact. I want people to be shocked when they see the dolls clothes in apparels I make for them, and couture helps me achieve that,” she says.

Some of her favourite Western brands are Gucci, Fendi and Chanel while she also loves Indian designers like Sabyasachi and Manish Malhotra.

Some of her designs can be slipped on and off the dolls, but some need to be sewn onto the doll and therefore once removed, cannot be worn again. She photographs her designs in her studio above the house and preserves all her garments.

Her seven-year-old son has learned that some of the dolls in the house are not for him, she says with a laugh. He has his own collection of dolls, and a trip to the toy shop is a treat for both the mother and the son. 

“He likes creative toys. He’s not like a typical boy that way, he prefers dolls and cooking sets. I encourage that because the conventional is boring anyway,” she shares. Toys also serve as props for the pictures she takes of her designs.

Light, camera, dress-up

“When I see a doll, I can instantly tell if I like it or not. I usually look at the hair, because as an Indian I can identify with darker hair. I also look at the eyes — some of them have beautiful eyes,” says Aiesha. Some dolls have striking resemblances to certain celebrities, and with a little fixing such as changing eye colours, she can dress up the doll to look exactly like a celebrity.

“Once I get a doll for a celebrity, I don’t replicate designs worn by other celebrities on it. I don’t dye the hair because it bleeds into the plastic and looks awful. So I edit in hair colours using an app. I’m currently working on one for Jacqueline Fernandez, but I’m not there yet,” she says.

Some of her favourite ‘celebrity’ dolls are her Deepika Padukone doll and her Hina Khan doll, and she posts photos of the same on her Instagram page, @ina_zea_ zeke.

She has recreated several looks of several celebrities. She spends her afternoons while her son is away at school and her nights designing and recreating their fashion. 

“I don’t go for a 100 per cent similarity though. This is my retelling and my homage to their outfits, so I want there to be some difference. It’s my take on their fashion. This way, the dolls also get a chance to shine, and are not an exact replica,” she says.

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