Catherine Refabert, chairwoman of Corolle of France, finds a doll-signing session as refreshing as a walk through sunlit gardens in her native Loire Valley, though considerably more strenuous.
At a signing she gets in touch with her public and puts faces to the hosts of nameless consumers who make up the informal cult of Corolle doll owners.During a visit by Refabert, mothers and children lined up in Gregory's Toys and Adventures in Sandy, each carrying one, two or a dozen Corolle dolls to be signed by their designer and maker. Though this was her first visit to the Salt Lake area, Refabert's lovable product is already well-known here.
"This is fabulous," exclaimed Refabert, a comfortable Frenchwoman who smiled radiantly at each tongue-tied child and chatted a moment, while neatly signing her name on the doll's cloth body. "I never know who I make for, but to see all these people come with dolls is the sunlight of my life."
As she signed, she explained about the beautiful dolls (a million annually) that roll from her factory in Langeais, a village of 5,000 inhabitants in the Loire River Valley, famed for its sunny vineyards, quaint villages and old castles. Langeais has its own castle, dating to the 11th or 12th century. "It's an inspiring, fairy-tale atmosphere," said Refabert.
There Refabert and her husband, Jacques, set up their factory 11 years ago. Of course, it's the biggest employer in town, and indeed the only doll factory in France. Last year Mattel Inc. purchased the company, which operates just as before, with Catherine as chairman and Jacques as chief executive officer.
"Corolle" means the inner petals that cluster around the center of a flower; in English, "corolla." It's a good name for Refabert's flowerlike dolls, with expressive, human-looking eyes and beguiling little faces - so French and yet so universal in appeal that you can hardly keep your hands off. And when you do handle them, you discover they are very lightweight, with soft plastic arms and legs and firm yet pliant cloth bodies, just right for cuddling.
Corolle dolls retail for as little as $40 and range up to $1,000 for gorgeous, 30-inch Ludivine, with elaborate gown, glass eyes, and eyelashes and wig of human hair, gloriously coiffed. Some Corolle dolls come in limited editions, but many sell from $50 to $100.
From the more than 65 dolls in the 1991 collection, you might choose a bald babe in arms 11 inches long. Babies range up to 21 inches in height, including the Petit Frere and Petite Soeur (little brother and sister) or Victor and Victoria in plaids, with luxuriant hair. Dress them in real baby clothes or Corolle's charming fashions.
Toddler dolls are an irresistible lot, in dainty dresses that resemble current European fashions and are easy to remove and put on. Marielle, 17 inches, comes in blond or brunette, wearing a beautiful French gown and flowered hat in luscious pastels. Or there is the threesome of Eglantine, Jacinthe and Pervenche, dazzling 21-inch beauties dressed in styles inspired by Monet's paintings.
This year Corolle is entering its Marie Lavande in nomination for the DOTY (Doll of the Year) award, given out in February at the Toy Fair in New York City. The doll's face features new construction, and its head and arms can be manipulated.
"We started with 11 employees, now we have 450 worldwide," said Refabert. "Our dolls go to 34 countries; besides the United States, to Japan, Australia, Hong Kong and Canada, and all over Europe, including the Scandinavian countries.
"Americans buy more of our dolls for collecting than for play, but the reverse is true in France, though the French are now beginning to collect." The same dolls are liked everywhere - baby dolls, and toddlers with long hair in special costumes.
Emily and Shannon Welch watched wide-eyed as she invited them to visit her in France and see how the dolls are made.
Corolle dolls are hand-crafted only by women in as many as 100 different operations. Only the molding of plastic heads, arms and legs, and rooting of the fine-spun hair is done by machine.
To finish the doll's face requires 11 hand-finishing operations, including painting the eyes (six operations), lips, cheeks and eyelashes. Thus each doll comes out just a little differently. Much sewing of the intricate clothing, some made by hand, is done in a factory in Portugal.
Corolle dolls are easy to care for. Hairless dolls can be washed by machine, and some Corolle dolls have been washed as many as 50 times, volunteered one mother. Dolls with hair can be hand-washed, and all are very durable, yet with the look of porcelain.
"I received my first doll when I was 4 years old. It fell and broke immediately, and I cried for a week," said Refabert. "That's why I use plastic, I could never do that to another child."
Refabert's original designs are inspired by real children. "I am always looking, always with my camera," she said in her piquant accent.
Corolle's first doll ever was a newborn baby doll, 16 inches, just the right size for a little girl. "It was an immediate success, and for awhile we did just baby dolls, because the demand was great," said Refabert. "That first doll is still the favorite of our public. In it, the child recognizes the baby she (or he) once was, or someday wants to have. Dolls become alive, a very special baby to a child."
Catherine Refabert is still head designer for Corolle, with a staff of eight - two sculptors, three patternmakers, and two who draw boxes and displays. The more expensive dolls come in oval boxes of thin wood, with pretty hand-painted lids.
Karen Cravens came wheeling a collection of 30-plus dolls that overflowed a baby carriage, the results of six years' collecting. She loves Corolle dolls for their clothes, their soft hair, the individuality of their faces. "And they smell good," she said.
"Yes, we put a little vanilla in the plastic, so that they smell faintly like a candy shop," laughed Refabert.
Refabert was born in Paris, to Russian parents who came to France during the Revolution. Her grandfather was a world-famous miniature painter, and though she was artistic, her father insisted that she study math and pursue design and painting as a hobby.
She did attend the Sorbonne in engineering, where she met her husband. Both left Paris and joined Clodrey, the Refabert family doll firm, and they've been in the doll business for 31 years, progressing up the ladder of success. In 1971 they merged with a larger toy company where Catherine Refabert founded the trademarked CR Club dolls, using her own initials.
Her father, a design engineer who worked on the Concorde aircraft, is now proud of her career but maintains that her engineering training has helped her.