Atelier.R is just short for Atelier Ralf.
The Brand has been on the market for about 2 years now, but the story is way older. It goes back to when, Ralf, the designer, was around 6 years old: “I had a few Barbies and later on I started to make clothes for them. I didn’t know anything about closures so they had to be sewn into the dresses. Not very practical.” As he got older, he abandoned all the dolls he had, keeping only 1 : Beach Fun Kira, who got turned into a Xena Warrior Princess. “It took me too long to create that Xena outfit so I kept it”.
2016 was the year that the brand, Atelier.R, took form and started making easy clothes, trying out different shapes, which was easier in the small scale than in the real life size and so, more dolls and clothes came around.
Collector of Barbie, Integrity Toys (Nu.Face and Fashion Royalty), his designs are specifically oriented towards those dolls, however he is the proud owner of his first BJD – Kadira doll, after he met “the wonderful and amazing doll creater Andrew Yang”
His inspiration comes from fashion magazines, fashion shows, art exhibitions, architecture and different cultures “but sometimes I need to see the fabric that will tell me what to create. Fabric is the key in small scale as it can be too thick or too thin. I created many clothes which I just threw as the fabric option wasn’t appropriate. Yet, traveling it’s the best to get new ideas.”
