Designer fashion that turns girls into living dolls

A London couple are launching Britain's first store selling "mini-me" dolls, with designer outfits and even skin tones to match the little girls who own them.

My London Girl, aimed at three- to 12-year-olds, is opening at the Westfield shopping centre in Shepherd's Bush this week, in time to target Christmas shoppers.

The £79 dolls and their choice of 20 outfits will be on sale alongside matching girls' clothing by designers including David Charles, whose fashions are stocked at Harrods. The dolls' skin tone, hair and eye colours range across seven types, from a blue-eyed blonde to a black-skinned, brown-eyed version with Afro curls.

Paul Neagle, who is launching the store with his wife Kathryn Fleetwood-Neagle, said: "It's like going into a boutique - but a boutique for dolls."

The couple, from Kingsway, hit on the idea four years ago after holidays to America with their two daughters, now aged 18 and 13, where they saw a similar concept.

Mr Neagle, a former director of asset management group Thomas Miller Holdings, explained: "We thought, if no one else is going to do it then why don't we?

"My wife's background is in education, so she knows what little girls like and what's good for their development in terms of role play. It will be a 19in doll with an outfit in a gift box. We are bringing in British designers and getting them to design for the dolls. So we will be selling branded goods in the store, not just our own brand."

The fashion range is set to expand to include autumn/winter and spring/summer collections. "It will be nice, fun, child fashion," added Mr Neagle. "We will not be selling make-up or anything like that. We are not trying to turn little girls into adults.

"They're the sort of fun clothes that a child could wear to a party, a restaurant or a wedding. We think this will extend the period of childhood, because dolls are for very young children.

"Often, once they get to about eight or nine years old they lose interest in dolls. We're hoping that by making the dolls fashionable, it will extend the life of doll play among young girls."