The birth of Anouk

An old sketch of Anouk back when she was in development and still called "Capucine".

Anouk started life as the realisation of a long held dream to create my own authentic, vintage style fashion doll. In particular European dolls which are a little less prolific than Barbie, Tammy etc. Anouk is perhaps an amalgamation of various dolls I have collected and enjoyed. In particular Mod era Barbie and Francie, Caprice and Mily from France, Schwabinchen and Lilli from Germany, Paulova from Spain and vintage Sindy and Pippa dolls from the UK.

I procrastinated, and had misfires for a couple of years. Funding was a nightmare. Finally I began the process in 2014/15 by playing around with artwork and concepts.

This early artwork is adapted from the French doll of the 60s, chic Parisian beauty, Caprice. Initially I was to name her Capucine, but this had already been used by another doll, so Anouk it was, named for a favourite French actress of mine. It is also a name that I feel is Iconic and evocative of 1960s France, which is essentially the spirit of Anouk.

Early concept art for Anouk adapted from the vintage Caprice doll booklet.