Shuang Huang Interview by Terri Gold

Text and photographs by Terri Gold unless otherwise noted.

Often, in our wonderful Dolly World, we see only the end products of years of work, the dolls. This article will present to you the story of a doll artist herself, Shuang Huang, the designer of a new line of Asian dolls called, Jennifer Sue.
Shuang sent me 4 of the five versions of Jennifer Sue to photograph and some information about the dolls themselves. I had previously seen photographs of her dolls in another publication and I wanted to give the collectors a different take and insight into the person behind the dolls. Shuang and I corresponded via email for a few months with me asking for more and more. (Can we ever have enough?)

As the deadline for publication draws near, it is time to put words and images to virtual paper. If this interview leaves you wanting to know more about Shuang, please visit my table at the IFDC in Las Vegas where Shuang will be sitting. In addition, she will have a table in the Salesroom where you can see and order Jennifer Sue. Shuang's line of adorable doll shoes will be for sale as well.

Shuang as a baby with her parents. Photo supplied by Shuang.

TG:
Tell us something about your childhood. What did you play with? What did you like to do?
SH:
I was born in China. When I was a little girl, China’s Cultural Revolution was just ending. China was very poor and children didn’t have many toys or dolls to play with. I played with other children. My most beloved hobby when I was little was reading. I have read Hans Christian Andersen, Grimm Brothers, Greek, Roman, Chinese, & Tibetan myths. I have read 1001 Arabian nights. These stories made my imagination go wild and opened my mind to other cultures outside of the world I knew as a child. And also, almost in every one of these stories, no matter how difficult or how much hardship it was for the character to reach his goal, he finally achieved his goal.
At that time in China everybody was wearing gray and black. My grandma took me to all the stores in my hometown to buy a pair of shoes for me and I hated them because I loved flower patterned shoes. We walked for a few days and finally found a pair of flower patterned shoes for me. My father had to buy me brightly colored clothing from Shanghai which was the only city that provided beautiful quality dresses, because I refused to dress in any ordinary things that other girls wore. I’ve always been in love with beautiful clothing

Photo supplied by Shuang.

I loved drawing; I particularly loved drawing beautiful girls with lovely dresses. I drew pictures even when I was in the middle of a class in school! At that age, we never heard of fashion design. If I knew there had been such a thing, I would definitely have studied it.

TG:
Where did you become aware of fashion dolls? What impression did you have?
SH:
I heard of Barbie when I was in China, but I didn’t see them in the market at all. I came to this country in 1990. The first time I went to a toy store and saw a Barbie doll, I was somewhat disappointed because I didn’t like the face or the dress very much. Ten years later, when I was buying dolls for my daughter, I noticed that Barbie’s face was much improved and so beautiful. I remember I was holding a Barbie for a long time just looking at her face and moving her hands and legs. I fell in love with the ‘new’ Barbie. I didn’t become a doll collector until the year 2001.

Photo supplied by Shuang.

TG:
How did you decide to design your own doll?
SH:
I was working in IBM as a Software Engineer. Our team had just created a major software product and needed to watch and test it 24 hours a day. I was working the third shift. At break time, I was browsing the web to keep myself awake. I found a Barbie collector site and was amazed by all the beautiful collector-edition dolls. However, when I saw the Asian dolls, I didn’t really like them. At that moment, I asked myself, could I design a better doll - one that truly looked Asian?
I had always loved designing and drawing since childhood. And I also found that I am very good at color matching. Those traits were my advantage. I thought my disadvantages were that I had studied neither fashion design nor business. But who said you have to go to a fashion school in order to make your own doll? I am a computer programmer. I have something else to offer. I could use some of my advantages to makeup for my perceived disadvantages. I made up my mind after that night that I would design a true Asian doll instead of the white dolls made to look Asian that were currently offered on the market.

TG:
How did you make the transition from software engineer to doll designer?

SH:
Having an idea is great, but to make the idea work is not an easy task. Designing a doll from scratch is very difficult. I first studied the whole process of doll making from all the resources I could get. Reading books, searching on the Internet, talking to Manufacturers, I even visited a Manufacturer to see how dolls are made in a factory. After I knew the whole process, I started to design the dolls face. I asked myself what will my dolls face look like? Did I want her to be a young girl? Or would she have the beauty of a supermodel? Maybe cool look? Or a sweet look? Maybe a natural girl next door look? I liked both the cool and sweet look. So I told my sculptor to make me a either sweet or cool looking face. I worked with the sculpture together for a year, and after many discussions and corrections, finally a beautiful face was born. It looked so classical. It had an oval face, small lips, small nose, and not round eyes, just the perfect look I was expecting.

Original Jennifer Sue prototype sculpt.
Image provided by the artist.

Shuang's response continued:

In the meantime, I began to learn how to design fashions. This is the part of the job I enjoyed the most. I have no problem drawing fashion illustrations. But I had to ask myself what kind of fashions do people like? The 100% traditional Asian fashions are not fashionable or trendy, they are just historic costumes which Asian people normally don’t wear anymore. The best way to go was to combine Western fashion with Eastern classical styles.



		Illustrations provided by The Artist

TG:
Tell us more about the process of doll design.
SH:
Applying makeup on dolls and choosing a skin tone was also a fun and creative job. I’ve always wanted to see an Asian doll that looked more lifelike. To achieve this, hand painted eyes were a must. I was lucky enough to find a manufacturer that could put as much attention to detail as I would if I were able to hand produce each doll. I had tried pale skin tones with current makeup styles, and I found I liked the current skin tone more because it looks so natural and elegant.
Jennifer's’ hair. Originally I just thought about pure black hair for her. And later I changed my mind because there are so many Asian people starting to dye their hair to different colors now. Jennifer should definitely follow this trend. I also felt different hair colors would give the doll different looks and personality. Black wavy hair makes a doll look mystical. Dark brown hair makes a doll look determined. So I mixed together black and brown hair so to give a moderately dynamic and bold look.
The most amazing part of Jennifer is her shoes. I could never imagine that she could have handmade shoes made just for her. I was preparing to produce plastic shoes for her and to my surprise found a manufacturer that was willing to make such tiny shoes for me. Most manufacturers only make 16-inch dolls shoes; they don’t want to make anything smaller than that because of the difficulty. Jennifer’s shoes are much more dainty and delicate. I absolutely love her shoes.

In the image above, Jennifer Sue is wearing a
Randall Craig design and carrying a Jason Wu handbag.

TG:
Do you see Jennifer Sue as a play doll or a collectible doll?
SH:
Oh, definitely a collectible doll. There is no doubt about it. She has hand painted eyes, handmade shoes, quality-made outfits and doll stands. Furthermore, she is ultra-limited. Right now, each style is limited to 100 pieces only.

TG:
Are there other versions of Jennifer Sue in the planning stages? Are you considering articulation?
SH:
Yes, I am planning a new face and body now. Also, I am working on the handmade shoes made to fit all 11.5 inch doll feet, such as Fashion Royalty and Barbie. (See pictures of the some of Shuang's shoes below.) I also am working on miniature pets made especially for 11.5 inch.
The articulation is not on my agenda yet, but it’s what I want to do in the future.

TG:
What modern doll designers and/or manufacturers do you admire and why?
SH:
Robert Tonner Doll Company. I admire his work and wish that someday I will do as well as he does. I told Robert myself the first time I met him, that he was my idol. He still is! The reason is that his dolls are gorgeous - nothing more; nothing less.

TG:
Have you been directly helped by any other doll designers?
SH:
No, I have worked purely on my own.

TG:
What advice and/or suggestions would you give to aspiring doll artists?
SH:
Do what you really like. Set your mind there, and never give up.

TG:
Are you still collecting dolls for yourself? Tell us about your collection.
SH:
Oh, yes, I mainly focus on modern Barbie dolls and
Silkstones. I also like Fashion Royalty dolls, but they are harder to get.

TG:
Where do you see yourself professionally and creatively in 5 years?
SH:
I want to establish Jennifer Sue as a solid brand for Asian Fashion dolls. Whenever people think about Asian Fashion dolls, they’ll think about Jennifer Sue. Just like when many people think about dolls, their first thought is Barbie. I’d also like to make unique handmade doll accessories for 11.5 inch dolls. Because of the smaller scale, it’s very hard to make handmade accessories for them; it’s quite a challenge but a fun thing to do.

TG:
Would you like to add anything?
SH:
It’s been 5 years from the first conception of Jennifer Sue to the now available doll. On this long journey, I’ve had so many people give me help. I could not have done this alone without my friends and family’s help. I’m always so grateful for their help and support.
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Shuang lives and works in New York. Please visit her website: http://www.jenniferdolls.com