THEY’RE quirky and definitely unique. Who would have thought that old bits of blankets would eventually end up becoming the eye-catching Dooodolls, eh?

Well, Dooodolls is a story of humble beginnings – graphic designer Darren Chen loved drawing so much that one day, he decided he would bring his creations to life to share with his loved ones and friends.

So in 2003, he started stitching scraps of old blankets together to make his dolls and voila! They were an instant hit. Chen soon had to deal with demands for his dolls to be in different colours, sizes and materials. And in catering to those demands, Chen ended up transforming his hobby into a full-fledged business, founding Dooodolls in 2004.

Through a friend, Chen ended up meeting his future business partners Chew Kai Xin and Ong Han Vi. With their help, the Dooodolls business has expanded with Chen at the helm as the chief designer and creative director Dooodolls while Chew and Ong handle the business side of the company.

“We didn’t have a business plan. It was all very spontaneous,” says Ong.

“And then we struggled,” adds Chew.

According to Ong, it’s been a learning process for the three of them. Chew, on the other hand, points out that they have been lucky enough to have gotten media coverage, something which they are thankful for as it has helped them with retailers.

“We’re not finance people. I’ve been working for 10 years but I’ve learnt more in the past two years with Dooodolls than I have in my whole life,” she says.

“It’s been a nice experience and a good learning process. We now understand why our former bosses acted the way they did,” adds Chew, who used to work as an executive in a renowned toy company.

Ong admits that “it was an expensive experience with product manufacturing” though – some of their initial designs did not turn out the way they expected and they had to learn to communicate with their suppliers in China to get it right.

Chew says that they didn’t do a survey and “jumped right into it” but fortunately things have improved since then. To make things more complicated, each Dooodolls is hand-stitched to perfection – and there are more than 20 different designs available.

The Dooodolls are available in the following variations: Dooodolls Baby and Dooodolls Pillow Sized Plush made super-soft Softlon, a 24” pillow-sized plush, 12” plush, 6” Baby and 3.5” key chains.

Each Dooodolls is uniquely named and has been given a unique character.  They’re all designed to be “adorable and friendly, but ever so slightly naughty and mischievous.”

And in case you’re wondering, Chen himself came up with the name Dooodolls, which is supposed to stand for “dolls that make you do”. The extra ‘O’ in the name was plonked in “just to make it quirky.”

“We are now wiser,” says Ong.

And it shows in the way the company has grown. Dooodolls were such a hit at the annual toy fairs in Germany and Hong Kong that a few foreign companies snapped them up, which means Dooodolls are now available in parts of Asia, Europe and the United States, a total of 13 countries to date.

The company has also been working on monthly comics and CG animation cartoon with the help of MDEC & MAVCAP. It has also collaborated with other companies and agencies to come up with more unique creations. These collaborations include the Dooodolls-Nike Windrunner-Bearbrick, which displays elements of the Dooodolls brand; producing limited quantities of the Cupido and Charco plush design for Tourism Malaysia outlets at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Penang International Airport, Langkawi International Airport and Kota Kinabalu International Airport; and the specially-designed Orang-Utan and Rain Drop Dooodolls in support of the Arts & Earth festival to promote environmental awareness.

So what is the Dooodolls trio’s advice to those intending to start their own business?

“Don’t give up. You have to try but don’t give up,” says Chew.