Its always great to see a new 18″ doll on the market, especially here in the UK, so I was thrilled by the announcement over at My Doll Best Friend that they would be stocking the Via-E brand, featuring the first doll in the line, Alexis O’Shay.
The doll has golden toned-skin, blue eyes and long blond hair and is conceived as more of a friend than just a doll; she is jointed a knees and elbows as well as hips and shoulders, so she can be posed to be active, she can even get wet. Her adventures (told in storybooks) are designed to encourage creative play and also learning: Alex’s father is a travel writer so she gets to learn a lot about different countries. Later dolls will be introduced as friends that Alex meets on her adventures.
As might be expected, there will be clothing for Alex to wear (her mum is a fashion designer, after all). Looking at the first few outfits on the official website I’m impressed with the versatility of the designs, for example the Loving Sao Paulo outfit consists of a white dress, black waistcoat, red scarf and black barefoot sandals (with instructions for the latter). The following images from the website show how many ways these few pieces can be combined to make great looking fashions:
The Via-E company has a clear ethos in creating and marketing Alexis and the other products:
“It is our goal, our mission to help build life skills and give lift to the dreams of every girl, across all social and economic boundaries while providing opportunities for girls to help each other. My dream and the purpose of this company is to ignite the sparkle in every girl’s eyes while helping each of them grow to fulfill their dreams.”
The first edition dolls are limited to 500 and will be signed, and are due in to My Doll Best Friend very soon. With her smiling face, long brushable hair, poseable body and active lifestyle I think Alexis O’Shay would be the ideal present for a child to spend hours with, and should prove very popular.
Visit Alexis at the Via-E website
Images © Via-E
A Doll's Day 