The Lolita Complex: - Scholarly Commons Home

wider, “European” eyes, as well as the popular fashion for coloured contact
lenses. In any case, due to this demand for vintage Blythe dolls, the Japanese
toy company Takara gained the rights to reproduce them, refashioned in
contemporary dress styles, from 2001 onwards. Both Pullip and Blythe dolls
are available in Gothloli-style versions. For the Gothloli collector, the most
sought after are limited editions devised by Japanese Lolita fashion brands
and designers, such as Angelic Pretty and Naoto Hirooka of h.naoto.
However, the most valuable and expensive types connected with the
Lolita subculture, overall, are Super Dollfies (Fig. 72). These two-foot tall dolls
are manufactured by Volks, Inc. of Kyoto. While Super Dollfies are not all
representative of the Gothloli identity, as neither Pullip nor Blythe are,
exclusively, they have also been made to depict Rozen Maiden characters, and
Volks often collaborates with the designers of leading Lolita labels, including
h.naoto, Black Peace Now, Atelier-Pierrot, and Baby the Stars Shine Bright.
Finally, the figure of Lolita also finds herself depicted in fine art. While
the little-girl image is prolific in Japan, the most recognised of all Japanese
artists, by Gothloli worldwide, is Nori Tamizaki. In Nori’s work, which
concentrates on the portrayal of either doll-like Lolita or lifelike dolls, the
notions of both “Lolita” and the “Gothic” are juxtaposed to represent the
ultimate “sweet but scary little girl” image; she is simultaneously Alice, the
Sweet Lolita; and Wednesday Addams, the epitome of the creepy, cute
Gothic Doll-child/Woman-child, or the Living Doll.
Page | 130