If you are going to have an obsession, have an obsession that reaps dividends. Gina Garan has turned her magnificent obsession with dolls into a lucrative labor of love that is manifesting rewards beyond her wildest dreams. And none of it was planned.
“I’ve collected dolls from childhood on. I would spend all my money on dolls; it was a way for me to live out my fantasies, explains Garan. When Gina Garan decided to write a book about dolls over a decade ago, she could not anticipate that one book would turn her life upside down and open up doors in fashion that she never thought she would walk through. “I pitched a doll book idea about the Blythe doll to four publishers and they all offered me a book deal. I really thought I would write one book that only my family would buy … Within a short amount of time, I had an agent and Japan Vogue got word of what I was doing and asked me to do a photo shoot a month of my dolls in clothes by a different designer and it just kind of mushroomed from there,” details Garan. And the designers that have dressed Blythe is a who’s who of the fashion world—Karl Lagerfeld, Dolce Gabbano, Tommy Hilfiger, and Donna Karan to Miuccia Prada, Vivienne Westwood, and Armani, just to name a few.
Since that first Blythe book, Garan has penned 11 photo table top books with Blythe in a variety of clothes and hairstyles. Interestingly enough, the original Blythe doll had a short shelf life. Designed in 1972 by Kenner, the Blythe doll did not catch on with kids at the time. With its rather large head, small neck and receded eyes—think of a fashionable, feminine ET—the Blythe doll made children uncomfortable. Still, a small subset of doll-loving adults embraced Blythe, and over the next decades Blythe became a sought after collector’s item. Gina Garan was one of those doll enthusiasts—she owns over 3,000 dolls—that was attracted to Blythe’s somewhat macabre figure and unusual silhouette. “Because I have such a history with dolls, I was told by several people that the Blythe doll resembled me in some weird way. So when I bought my first Blythe doll, I fell in love with her and I started buying lots of them on Ebay or any place I could find them, in fact, now own over a hundred of them” confesses Garan.
The success of the Blythe books has led Garan to her latest project with a similar doll from the 70s. Like Blythe, Susie Says has large, expressive eyes and does not meet the standard beauty test that most associate with dolls. Still, in true form, Garan was attracted to Susie Says’ unusual beauty. And in her first collaborative effort with writer Justin Vivian Bond, Garan has co-authored Susie Says, recently released by Powerhouse Books. “With this table top doll book I decided to give Susie Says a voice. None of my other doll books had any text, so in that respect this new book is a departure,” explains Garan. Garan has even purchased the manufacturing rights to Susie Says, of which a new modernized version of the doll is expected to go into production this fall.
Having turned her labor of love into a lucrative obsession, Garan is focused on her insatiable quest to share her love of dolls with the world. “I didn’t start out having a point of view or an agenda with my doll books; it was just a labor of love. Over time, I have developed a significant following … Dolls actually have a calming effect for me and I would like other people who love dolls to experience through my books that love and sense of peace.”
Hmm, a magnificent obsession that promotes peace and tranquility. Well, it just might work!!
—William S. Gooch
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