IRIIRI is very good at making dolls, though she would rather not refer to her creations as that. “I call the dolls I create ‘people,’” says the Japanese designer, explaining that she models her creations after family, friends, and the random people she sees in everyday life. At first glance, IRIIRI’s whimsical stuffed animals don’t resemble anything like the human form, but look a little closer and you’ll begin to notice familiar human emotions like amusement, melancholy and cynicism written across the toys' faces.
Most of the time, IRIIRI’s creations are silent and still, but a collaboration with Japanese design studio IDEA International has brought her intricately designed toys to life. IDEA asked IRIIRI to create a special line of its popular Kuchi-Paku stuffed animal speakers, which sing and dance along to music when connected to an iPhone or MP3 player (kuchi-paku means "lip-sync" in Japanese). Most of IDEA’s battery-powered Kuchi-Paku toys look like your standard stuffed frogs, lions, and elephants, which is to say they’re absolutely adorable. But IRIIRI’s Kuchi-Paku line is different.
>"I want to express these original, one-of-a-kind people through dolls."
Each one of her dolls has a story, which is not hard to imagine given their depth of detail and intricately designed charm. According to IRIIRI, the French bulldog is not just a French bulldog. Rather, he is a comedian living in Italy who loves to travel and makes his living by performing card tricks and riding a unicycle. “He goes home playing tag with the moon after work,” IRIIRI elaborates.
Likewise, the smartly dressed cat is a kind, strong Italian philosophy professor who loves the color yellow and eating scones with plenty of cream topping. While the plaid-clad rabbit is a curious Parisienne ballet dancer who loves chocolate, raspberries and daydreaming. “All people are original, and have their own history,” she explains. “But what I want to do is to express these original, one-of-a-kind people through dolls.”
IRIIRI begins by choosing the fabric, which she says, “is the heart of doll making.” From there she creates the doll’s pattern and refines it until she finds the ideal shape. After settling on the doll’s form, the fabric is cut, sewn together and filled with cotton—or in the case of her Kuchi-Paku dolls, stuffed with a microphone and wiring. IRIIRI says the detailing of the face takes the most time to finish since each stitch on the eye is done one by one.”The face is especially difficult, since a slight change in detail and balance changes the expression completely,” she says. “When you see the dolls’ expression become lively as if put to life, that is how you can tell the doll is complete.”
Though IRIIRI's dolls are on the expensive side (her Kuchi-Paku line goes for $100), it's the thoughtful details—the pink stitching around the eyes, the luxurious textiles, the evident craftsmanship— makes them so much more personal than anything you'll find on a Toys R' Us shelf. After all, she says, “I assume that people who choose to buy my dolls, feel some kind of resemblance in these dolls of someone they are close to, or someone in their memory."
Get your own IRIIRI Kuchi-Paku doll at Neo-Utility.
