These two women are on a mission that will see black girl children see themselves in the dolls they play with

Caroline Hlahla and Khulile Vilakaza-Ofosu started a company that produces the Sibahle Doll Collection which affords a black girl child a doll that they can identify with.

Sibahle means “we are beautiful” in IsiZulu, the name reinforces the fact that black women and girl children are beautiful in their black skin.

The two entrepreneurs are very much passionate about addressing issues such as representation as well as the identity that affect some black women and children.

Before starting the doll range, the pair saw how African hair has been a very complex issue among western hair-care producers who find it had to produce products that are either good for the black scalp or texture.

Both Vilakaza-Ofosu and Hlahla were inspired to address this, this meant starting a hair-care range that is dedicated to the texture of African hair.

“We noticed that beyond the deeply personal connection that women have with their hair, the identities and confidence of our customers’ children became a conversation piece. It was also a personal experience in which Khulile’s daughter at age of 3 (with the most beautiful, thick Afro hair) started wanting blond and flowing hair,” they said.

This made them start thinking of how we could address the hair issue amongst black girls.

“We identified the very real lack of black dolls with kinky Afro hair, sold in toy shops for parents of black and mixed heritage kids to buy. We decided to challenge the norm and came up with a quality beautiful dolls collection called “The Sibahle Collection” that would be representative of a child of an African child,” they said.

Vilakaza-Ofosu and Hlahla explained how the dolls are made, which gives a unique experience to each child.

They said the hair of the doll is the most distinguishing feature.

“The child gets to experiment with the hair, wash it, and care for it as they do with their hair. Up until recently, the European market attempted to fill the gap for black dolls with western dolls just painted black with hair nothing like the typical African kinky hair,” they said.

They said that they want children to see the beauty of their skin and feel comfortable in it.

“The dolls in the Sibahle collection have features that resemble most African children’s facial and body features. Our hope was and still is that the dolls will instill self-confidence in our kids and teach them from a young age how to take care of their hair and also how to celebrate and embrace diversity,” they said.

Editor’s note:

The two entrepreneurs are very much passionate about addressing issues such as representation as well as the identity that affect some black women and children. Representation and identity are some of the things women, especially those of colour, have been battling with for years in South Africa.

Description:

Caroline Hlahla and Khulile Vilakaza-Ofosu started a company that produces the Sibahle Doll Collection to afford black girl children a doll that they can recognise and identify with.

Editor: Anirlé de Meyer

Project manager: Anirlé de Meyer