DREAMS DO
COME TRUE,
BUT ONLY IF WE
PURSUE THEM
W
Thank goodness indeed for dreams, one gave
birth to the Malaville line of dolls — Maisha,
Mala, Malina and Mhina.
Congrats on this new and much needed
venture Mala. When did you decide to give
it a go?
“In April 2015 I traveled to China in search of
a manufacturer and designed the dolls in
hen Mala Bryan was a little
three months."
girl, she played with many
dolls none of which looked like
her -- white ones. Today, Mala has gone from playing
To what extent were you involved in the
creative process?
with Cabbage Patch and Barbie dolls to having her
very own line of dolls that look like her -- black ones.
"Every aspect of it. I designed the Malanites,
the fabulous citizens of Malaville, from
Mala's doll play has evolved and she designs
everything -- from choosing their eye color and
hair texture, to their eclectic outfits and
afrocentric hairdos, to designing the
packaging for her dollie line.
scratch — I chose the eye shape, skin color,
features. I designed them all. I created them
with little to no makeup because I wanted
their natural beauty to stand out. I also
design their clothes and the packaging for
the dolls."
This creative genius, Mala Bryan, a St.Lucian
model turned entrepreneur and CEO, credits
a dream — a literal dream — for her Malaville
collection. Whether pleasant or poignant we
These dolls wear outfits that I as an adult
would love to wear myself. Where does
the inspiration for the outfits come from?
all have dreams and dream from time to
time.
"The inspiration for their outfits comes from
the fabric or the dolls themselves and our
And while some of us brush them off as a
figment of our imagination, others take what
they see in their dream very seriously.
"Thank goodness for dreams," Mala says. "I
travel destination."
As a child many of us made dolls with
sticks, banana leaves and yarn (haha ok
maybe just me) but you had the real deal.
take what I see in mine very seriously. I knew
I wanted to have my own line of dolls about
15 years ago. I had a dream about them but I
didn't understand it until later on. I was too
"I still have my very first doll. My mom lived in
St.Martin and would send me lots of toys, all
sorts of toys.
focused on other things to think about that
dream. But it kept on coming back and I
eventually figured it out."
I had lots of dolls growing up and most of
them were white — cabbage patch kids,
Barbies. I made my own dollhouse from
cardboard and chewing gum, and stuck
pages from catalogs as decoration.”