From
Annette:
This year I have
answered a long standing wish of my collectors to make fully jointed
life-size toddlers.
And once again many
children were involved in the preparations. We measured them lying down and
standing up and of course they were jiggling and giggling like mad because
this is very ticklish work! It's truly amazing how different children of the
same age are.
I would especially
like to thank Irene Kitzmann, André Kitzmann's wife, who is a member of
staff here. She is a nursery teacher and she was so kind as to measure the
limbs in all directions according to a drawing I gave her. This was very
helpful because her measurements were very accurate. I'd like to extend a
big thank you to her at this point.
Gretchen and Linchen
are approx. 88 cm / 34 5/8" tall and about 20 months old. I'm
especially proud of the limbs. They are so lovely to look at, round and well
shaped, just great.
The skin colour too
makes me very happy so let me tell you a little bit about the process. I
make the mixture of the colour pigments and the formulas for the different
hues of the skin colours myself. And we have to run endless tests until I'm
happy with all the results. Each individual test has to be spun in the
centrifugal casting machine. Additional unknowns like duration and
temperature have to be experimented with at the same time. The skin colours
of Gretchen and Linchen are another step in the right direction for me. The
colours are so lifelike and so tender and natural, it really makes you think
you're looking at a toddler.
The development of new
skin colours is very very time consuming. You have to be very ambitious and
prepared to endure numerous knock-backs and create new formulas over and
over again until you finally have good results. For each trial run the
pigments and raw materials are weighed in a special scale. The weight for
most individual colours is under 1 gram (0.035 oz) - sometimes even only
0.03-0.05 grams (0.00105-0.00175 oz) - to give you an idea as to how
accurately you have to work.
I would also like to
mention the jointed limbs again. I always put an unbelievable amount of
effort into the work with the jointed dolls. And each time they look
different and it's always a big leap forward for me. You just have to
visualize how crazy it is to make those elaborate limbs with the joints for
only two doll models, ie. 754 dolls in total. If I tell you that 78 moulds
have to be made for those two dolls, you may not believe me. But it is true.
And it's the same for the Club dolls. There are 14 'mother moulds' and 64
work moulds. And I absolutely do not use these moulds for any other dolls,
not even for future collections. I will go into more detail about this in
the next issue of our Club magazine 'Undine'.
I find it important
that you know what treasures you own. It doesn't really matter whether the
jointed dolls are small or large - the amount of work and especially the
costs involved are exactly the same. The costs for the moulds are immensely
high and worldwide nobody but me is prepared to do all this. You know for
yourself what the doll market is like. Limbs and heads alike are being used
over and over for years without making a single change to them.
But let me return to
the two little ones. Gretchen with her happy and cheeky facial expression is
just up to mischief. Linchen on the other hand is a lovable, level-headed
and cautious little girl. She always watches cheeky Gretchen first before
she joins in. They're both so cuddly. When you're in front of them they draw
you in and it's hard to turn away from them.
I designed Gretchen's
smock fabric myself, as well as the trouser velvet with the embroidered
flowers. Their clothes aren't just sweet and snug, they also suit them very
well. Linchen's trousers were a real challenge for me. I sat in front of her
again and again and tucked and pinned on them, until I came up with the
stitched-on and tunneled ribbons on the wonderful hand-embroidery.
Their shoes too are
unusually sweet and so fitting.
The wigs are once
again made with a special toupee hand-knotting technique and as such are
very elaborate and time consuming in the making, because they both have lots
of hair and the rim knots are made according to my own design. (I have been
using this technique since the 2005 collection).
I would like to add
that the eyelashes are purposely toddler like and not as dense as in my
other dolls. I find it unbearable to turn toddlers into little Lolitas and
their lashes look like fly legs. I hope that you agree with me and trust me
that the two of them are just right. I'm certain that you'll like them.
