1/4/21: I rarely cover doll makers, not because I don’t think it’s an art, but because dolls usually just don’t do much for me. Today, however, we’re looking at something really special. These are the 16-inch fashion dolls by Malaysian artist/fashion designer Nigel Chia known as DéMuse Dolls. Definitely not intended to be played with, these dolls are more like high-fashion art sculptures. Though Chia is a full-time fashion designer, he designs only a few (doll) outfits per year. The artist is involved in every aspect of the doll’s design, from sculpting and painting the faces and giving them manicures and pedicures, down to crafting the minutest details on the luxurious gowns. Watching his process in his making-of videos (which he calls “Behind the Seams”) is positively mind-blowing.
“I know exactly what I want for a high fashion doll, and I am creating a muse of my own.”
– Nigel Chia
Okay, so maybe he works primarily with dolls because actual women don’t inspire him, but I don’t care. His work is exquisite, his attention to detail is epic, and his taste is impeccable. The dolls and the gowns are produced in very limited quantities, and they (understandably) fetch a high price. Since the DéMuse Dolls website is down, I was unable to find out just how much the dolls cost, but I did find a second-hand DéMuse gown on Ebay for $200, so I imagine the doll price is fairly hair-raising.
You can see all of Nigel Chia’s magnificent high-fashion creations on the DéMuse Dolls Doll website (which is, as of this writing, not working), and on Instagram, Facebook, and Chia’s YouTube channel.
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My OBT 
August 14, 2022 at 7:05 am
They sure are beautiful. Happy to see them again. I wonder if he created the heads of does somebody else? They are the most ‘life like” dolls that I have ever seen. Hal
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August 16, 2022 at 4:51 pm
I think he does it all, start to finish. They’re incredible!
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August 14, 2022 at 9:04 am
Dolls don’t do much for me but you sure showed the art and craft of these !
The how to videos are well done and stunning how elegant these are
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August 16, 2022 at 4:51 pm
They’re really like nothing I’ve ever seen!
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August 20, 2022 at 9:57 pm
☀️😊
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August 14, 2022 at 10:16 am
I have made doll clothes before but nothing like these..Those tiny zippers and eyelets are impossible.
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August 16, 2022 at 4:52 pm
I don’t even possess the dexterity to get their clothes on and off, much less make such things!
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August 17, 2022 at 9:49 am
Years ago my ” step grand daughter” then 8 0r so age came to visit. I had spent a while making clothes ,,one or two outfits, for her Barbie. She ended up cutting them all up. Needless to say ” we” didn’t have a good time that visit.
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August 23, 2022 at 11:25 pm
Oh, dear. I can imagine.
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August 14, 2022 at 11:33 am
Beautiful. If I had millions of dollars and a much larger house I could go crazy collecting dolls like that.
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August 16, 2022 at 4:52 pm
The prices are certainly crazy enough!
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August 17, 2022 at 9:55 am
I grew up in Ft. Worth, Tx and had a Sunday school teacher who collected dolls. She took us to see them and in a special room behind glass were a lot of beautiful dolls. There was even her whole bridal party in doll form made to look like each person.
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August 23, 2022 at 11:25 pm
That must have been magical to a child!
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August 15, 2022 at 5:51 pm
Oh my god…..? I was always a teddy bear girl but these…these are works of arts that even I would love…if I had the money, of course. 😀 😀 😀
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August 16, 2022 at 4:59 pm
And you’d have to have a LOT of it, too. Still seems like the high cost is justified.
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August 16, 2022 at 5:16 pm
Very much so. Just watching him sew on those teeensy weeeeeensy beds made my eyes cross. Amazing young man. 🙂
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August 16, 2022 at 5:16 pm
With x-ray vision!
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August 16, 2022 at 5:18 pm
lol – yes!
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August 16, 2022 at 9:28 am
My kids will be so inspired by this! My office floor will be so covered in scraps of fabric because of this!
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August 16, 2022 at 5:09 pm
LOL. There are worse things for your floor to be covered in! (Ours is currently glittered)
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August 16, 2022 at 7:45 pm
most days i wake up with those teeny tiny rhinestone dotz all over my legs and arms. Simultaneously annoying and awesome.
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August 17, 2022 at 8:59 am
When the hurricane flood waters went down in our house in 2012, everyone else had a line of diesel oil around their house to mark the water level. Ours was studded with feathers and glitter. I was a little proud of that!
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