Heart Home magazine Issue 10 | Page 96

As well as collecting dolls Julian was for a time making one-off replicas of Lillis – a comic-strip character created in the 1950s by the German tabloid newspaper Bild and eventually turned into a doll – with his business partner Liz Lee. He explains: “We had the raw components made in a factory and we finished them here, literally at the kitchen table. We enjoyed it tremendously, however they have now sold out and we are working on new projects.” Prior to making dolls, Julian worked as a fashion designer, fashion stylist, doll dealer and prophouse runner. He sold the town house a year and a half ago and is currently living in a detached Georgian cottage in Broadstairs.