Kool Image Dolls
Dominique Scaife









My approach with everything relating to Kool Image Dolls is the understanding that it is really hard to be what you do not see. For a young child to see a doll that they play with or watch with skin like theirs, hair like theirs, nose and lips like theirs instills that I too am beautiful, I too matter.
I established Kool Image Dolls™ in 2020, but the journey to this children’s lifestyle brand began decades ago. As a child my mother made sure that I had a collection of beautiful dolls that best represented me that were available at that time. I recall stories of her and my aunties standing in long lines awaiting the chance to grab one of the few black dolls available for my cousins and me. I loved my dolls and I learned self-love and self-care by not only playing, but also doing their hair just like mine. I learned to braid hair by 5 years old on my dolls! Although I loved my dolls there were still aspects of them that I would have loved to change. I wanted more ethnic features and not just a doll painted brown. I wanted stories that were similar to things that I saw culturally in my household. These wants never left me and as I later too became a mother to a little girl, the journey to the dolls in my head continued. I began to customize dolls I would purchase to make them what I wanted for the little girls in my family. I eventually began to teach myself to sculpt figures and introduced myself to the world as a figurative sculptor Dominique Scaife Art. All the while the dream of dolls and stories never left me.
I know that it’s really hard to be what you can’t see. It’s important for black and brown children to be able to relate to what they play with, hear, see, and even wear. It lets you know that in some way that who you are matters. For a young black or brown child to see a doll that they play with or watch with skin like theirs, hair like theirs, nose, and lips like theirs instills those affirmations that I too am beautiful, I too matter. It is my intention to take my skills along with my attention to every detail from hair to toe and create dolls, stories, clothing and more that uplift for many generations to come.
Through our dolls, clothing, and our Kool Image Dolls™ video series our mission is “Positive Self-Identity Play” & “Positive Self-Identity Engagement”. Why Kool with a K? The K in Kool Image Dolls™ stands for Kids Only Openly Love. Our Moto is “Play Kool, Dress Kool, Be Kool”. This is only the beginning of my Kool Image Dolls™ brand that aims to let all Kool Kids of any age know they are beautiful and can be anything they put their minds to.