A Celebration of Craft, Beauty, Tradition & Creativity
Started from our trip to Italy, where we encountered Judith Sotriffer, the last maker of centuries-old Grodnertal doll.
This handmade treasure from the 18-19th centuries, much like barbie in the modern era, were cultural icons of the time. They were sold bare but in their simplicity lived magic. Each doll was a blank canvas and sparked creativity among children and collectors to make their original clothing. Queen Victoria owned over 200, each with their own wardrobe.
Judith Sotriffer continues the tradition by handcrafting wooden dolls in Italy’s Val Gardena valley, the birth place of Grodnertal dolls. This story embodies our core values – craftsmanship, creativity, tradition, and playfulness. / With this story of craftsmanship, creativity, tradition, and playfulness, we built Dollhouse collection with handcrafted prints and new designs.
ARTISANAL HANDCRAFTS
A study in precision, patience, and the quiet poetry of handmade work. This chapter honors the crafts where discipline becomes beauty – techniques born from repetition, mastery, and the unmistakable imprint of the human hand. Each piece translates traditional methods into contemporary forms, showing how craft heritage can shape the body with new intention.
THE VICTORIANS
A chapter shaped by the elegance of centuries past with ornaments carrying storytelling, craftsmanship bringing emotions. Drawing from Victorian lacework, Alpine woodcarving, and 18th-century illustration, these pieces reinterpret historical beauty through the lens of contemporary movement. The result is a dialogue between eras: classical motifs softened into fluid silhouettes, heritage transformed into design for the present.
WHIMSICAL NOSTALGIA
A chapter shaped by the playful instinct to dress, reinvent, and imagine. Inspired by the soft architecture of tulle, the exaggerated proportions of doll clothes, and the gentle construction methods of childhood garments, these pieces revisit the handmade ingenuity behind early costume-making. Each design carries the simplicity and curiosity of craft at its most intuitive – cutting, gathering, draping, and assembling with a sense of wonder.
Grodnertal Dolls: JAC X Judith Sotriffer Edition
Judith Sotriffer is the last artisan in Val Gardena who continues the centuries-old tradition of Grodnertal doll making. Working entirely by hand, she carves, joints, and paints each wooden figure using historical methods passed down through generations, preserving a craft lineage now held by a single maker.
In collaboration with Judith, we created a limited series of ballerina dolls for the Doll House edition. Each piece is carved by her and then hand-painted with reinterpretations of our signature prints, forming collectible art objects that connect JAC’s design language with the living heritage of Grodnertal craftsmanship.
Every garments proudly created by the JAC team.
