Valley of Dolls: The Popovy Sisters, the New Wave of Russian Art-Doll Designers

And the theme on the Mysterious World of Dolls continues with the twin sisters Ekaterina and Elena Popovy. Born in Perm, Russia, and graduates from Ural State Academy of Architecture and Arts (Yekaterinburg), the Popovy sisters started making dolls in 2004.

Their portrait dolls are inspired by personalities and every doll is handmade from start to finish. By combining their passion for fashion design and doll art, Ekaterina and Elena created small conceptual collections of 10 to 15 dolls a year.

Huge amount of work is behind each collection. First an idea/emotion is born and we develop a concept of a project. Then we start preparative work: we learn the history, search for the images, develop the texture, choose the technique and draw sketches. Figure's gesture, stylization, artistic delivery and costume design, all of this goes along with one theme to express the idea to maximum extend.

Called the "new wave of Russian art-doll designers," the Popovy sisters received numerous awards, such as Best Doll Master at the International Doll Salon in Moscow, the Haute Couture prize of Doll Magazine for Hathor of Cult project and many more.