The original royal dolls.
A Donegal toy company who created their first doll to commemorate the Royal Wedding in 2011 are to welcome the Prince of Wales when he visits Letterkenny today.
Arklu, a company based in the CoLab at LYIT, was founded by Ballybofey man Ian Harkin.
The company started their business with a product to celebrate the engagement of Prince William to Kate Middleton having received permission from Clarence House.
A percentage of sales raised providing significant funds for two charities supported by Prince William.
The Princess Catherine Doll launched in Hamleys Toy Store on Regent Street London when the worlds media were looking for quirky Royal wedding stories.
Global media coverage followed and the Limited edition dolls sold out in weeks.
Four months Later Arklu followed up with a Royal Wedding Limited Edition Set celebrating the wedding day which retailed for £100 and can occasionally be seen to reaching up to £500 on Ebay.
Now the company has come full circle and has been chosen to meet with Prince Charles at the LYIT today.
CEO of the company Ian Harkin said “We are delighted to welcome the Prince of Wales to Letterkenny and be able to present our Royal Wedding dolls, the products which marked the beginning of my Arklu start-up journey in the doll industry five years ago – which has now come full circle, seeing me return to Donegal with a staff of thirteen in our Lottie Dolls CoLab office.”
The start-up toy company went on to develop Lottie, a childlike doll created to champion childhood values.
Launched in 2012, Lottie has won 29 international awards and is now on sale in over 30 countries.
Arklu are based in the Letterkenny CoLab Science Park, and in 2016 have doubled their staff and office space and have to date sold over 500k Lottie dolls and 300k accessories worldwide.
Arklu, will today have an opportunity to show The Prince of Wales its limited edition celebration dolls of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, created to mark the Royal couple’s marriage.
Lottie has been developed following 18 months of research with leading British scientists, which found that parents were largely concerned about children missing out on childhood, as a result Lottie was made to look like a nine-year-old child, doing all of the activities that children do and wears child-like clothing.
Representing a healthy body image, Lottie has become an age-appropriate alternative. Arklu aim to be champions of childhood, children from all over the world have submitted design ideas to the company which have inspired real Lottie dolls, one of which, Stargazer Lottie, became the first doll in space in December 2015 and will return from the Principia mission with British ESA Astronaut Tim Peake from the International Space Station next month, Stargazer Lottie was created by six-year-old Abigail, from Canada.
