Hello Dolly... introducing the Superdoll

As the saying goes, people don't really grow up, they just get more expensive toys. The latest toy for grown-ups costs up to £25,000, is made of resin, wears clothes that would be equally at home on the Paris catwalk and are just 17 inches high. Welcome to the world of the Superdoll.

Last month, following the success of a Sybarites doll collection show in Paris, two former couturiers, Charles Fegen and Desmond Lingard, both 47, staged a similar show in London where 20 dolls were seated next to each other as if on the front row of a catwalk.

The catch? While each doll boasts its own mohair wig and wears a handcrafted tulle gown complete with panelling made from antique crocodile skin, she also costs £25,000.

"It's the element of fantasy and escapism," argues Lingard, who noticed the new appetite for dolls after he made a sell-out Beth Ditto doll last year. "You might not be able to wear a couture gown yourself but you can still get the same kick out of collecting the Sybarites."

Meanwhile, Amanda Fatherazi is a London doll designer who sells naughty "boudoir dolls" from hip east London boutique Luna & Curious and next year will be exhibiting them at The Sanderson Hotel. At around 75cm high and costing between £200 and £600, hers have covetable wardrobes, smoke cigarettes and wear bondage gear, with names like Shireen, the Snake Charmstress of Persia and Indigo, the Incredible Tattooed Lady.

"They may be only dolls," Fatherazi says, "but they don't stare vacantly into space. They look right back at you so you can imagine what they're thinking."

Fashion's current obsession doesn't stop there. Gracing the holiday windows of the Printemps department store in Paris is a menagerie of dancing miniature Karl Lagerfeld figurines. Last week, next to the new Lanvin Petite childrenswear collection in Harrods, were four limited-edition hand-stitched dolls dressed in miniature Lanvin outfits. With a hefty £200 price tag, it wasn't just children queuing up to get their hands on them but parents, too. And after Net-a-Porter sold out of a collection of Barbies wearing Christian Louboutin heels, Barbie designer Matell launched a range of Grace Kelly Barbies in September, available to buy from barbiecollector.com. Here, a 2ft 6in-tall "Grace" comes wearing either a mini wedding dress or a party outfit and costs between £25 and £100.

Andrew Parker, a music mogul from Los Angeles, has a 50-strong Superdoll collection which he likens to art and displays in a purpose-built cabinet. Another doll obsessive, Izzy Leff, owns 100-plus. "Some people have a Chanel handbag habit, but I can't afford both!" she laughs.

Finally, when the makers of South Park decided to include Marc Jacobs in a recent episode, they weren't expecting such a positive response. After immortalising him in doll form as Cartman's Muscle Man Marc, Jacobs tweeted that he liked it so much he wanted to get a tattoo of it made.

The Superdoll is here to stay.