Rokhaya Diop’s dolls highlight the richness of African cultures. They are dressed fashionably with traditional African fabrics. Dresses in wax or Bogolan, their accessories such as sunglasses, golden boots or sneakers are fashionable for all children today.
“Creation is what defines me. When I look at the dolls, when the parents come to congratulate me, because the product is of quality. He’s very beautiful. I am really very happy with what I am doing today ”
Rokhaya Diop, founder of the Urbidolls doll brand
“ Urbi is princess and Dolls in English is dolls. It’s a nod to all our princesses “
Rokhaya Diop is Franco-Senegalese. She is very attached to her African culture. She was looking for a present for her niece and also watched her play with dolls that were unlike her. It is this observation that was one of the clicks to launch Urbidolls, in 2016. brand of dolls with a wide multicultural choice.
Cosmopolitan dolls
At the house of Urbidolls, the dolls are black or mestizo like Imany who has frizzy hair, or Binta with her curly hair. They reflect diversity and originality.
“It is really important for children that dolls with frizzy hair exist because our hair is frizzy so if the doll has beautiful hair, beautiful clothes I necessarily look like her then that allows the black and mestizo child in a first step to enhance oneself through the dolls. I am against saying that it is community because it is for all the children in the world, they all play together at school, they are all mixed up. There is no color, no race. I think when they look at the dolls the skin color comes after the beauty of the dolls. This attracts children and adults who would have liked to have had a doll like this when they were little they are melting pot dolls ”.
Accept the differences
With her dolls, Rokhaya Diop highlights fashion, the abundance of Africa, but she also wants to deliver a message.
“ That a little girl could play with a black, mixed-race doll and say to herself “she is beautiful, she has beautiful hair, she is beautiful. She has beautiful skin, she looks like me, which means that I too am beautiful. I don’t have to be ashamed of my hair, I have very beautiful skin “. I think it’s really very important that children have dolls that look like them. In the world of toys, black, Asian, Indian dolls are missing. When children play, their imagination takes over. It is very important that there are dolls from all the communities », Concludes Rokhaya Diop.
Find all the episodes of 100% Création on:
Apple Podcast Castbox Deezer Google podcast Podcast Addict Spotifyor any other platform via the RSS feed.