On a mission to promote sustainability, inclusivity, and empowerment, Bay Area resident, Elenor Mak, founder and CEO of Jilly Bîng, created a multicultural doll named “Jilly,” who helps celebrate the backgrounds of numerous Asian American cultures.
Growing up, Mak remembers only owning and playing with dolls that were blonde and blue-eyed. In 2022, after wanting to buy a doll for her own 2-year-old daughter, Jillian, she realized she had run into the same problem and there were nearly no dolls that represented her own Asian heritage. She was shocked and disappointed by what she found on toy aisles in San Francisco.
When thinking about the few Asian American dolls for sale, she noticed how “the so-called Asian dolls are stereotypes, vaguely ethnic looking, and they look like an afterthought in the doll line, the main doll’s sidekicks,” stated Mak.
So, in July, 2023, Elenor Mak launched her doll “Jilly,” an Asian American doll, named after her daughter “Jillian,” which went on sale through her online-only store. Just a month later, Mak received an overwhelming amount of 1,000 orders nationally, garnering much press attention such as Nation TV within just a few weeks of launching.
After posting “Jilly” on LinkedIn, she received over 2,000 likes in just 48 hours where numerous people shared their own similar stories of not having much Asian representation in dolls they could play with during their own childhoods.
Philippine American Coalition member Reese Lu ’24 stated, “Inclusivity is important wherever you go because it provides an environment where everyone feels welcome.”
By increasing awareness of the lack of Asian American dolls, Mak has received countless heartwarming responses from parents, grandparents, and kids.
“They’ve shared how it finally feels like they’re being represented. Even grown women have told us that this is the doll they wish they had when they were growing up, as they often felt like they didn’t quite fit in or weren’t considered beautiful,” stated Mak.
Nonetheless, creating this doll was no easy task. After finding an Asian toy maker, she spent a lot of time researching, “everything from eye shape to skin tones to hair color,” according to cbsnews.com.
In particular, Mak and her team spent a bulk of their time on Jilly’s eyes, remembering that she was made fun of as a child. By using her children, friends, family, and conducting many surveys to understand “HOW” parents want to be reflected, they aimed to send their children the message that “that their eyes are beautiful exactly as they are,” stated Mak.
YinShan Yang, Asian Students Association moderator, reflected, “Especially with leaving America, I know how important it is for our children to find their identity. Having Jilly is a very good way for young children to find their identity.”
Considering the complexity of the doll, after creating 3D prototypes, and going through many trial and errors, she asserted how she still currently has to “spend a few weeks at the factory recently to review things on a daily basis.”
But by creating this doll from scratch, such as doll tooling, with an Asian American team of designers and parents, they were able to earn the “tremendous strength, unity, and support within the Asian American community,” said Mak.
“Growing up, I was surrounded by Filipino and Asian culture, but there was definitely an absence in toys and books and movies that were made for multiple groups of people. Seeing Elenor Mak unhappy with that lack of representation and actually taking a step forward to change, makes me so happy that younger generations get to experience having that inclusiveness,” stated PAC President, Alana Radoc Manrique ’24.
Scan the QR code to watch the video of students from the Asian Student Alliance interacting with the Jilly Bing doll.
Jilly not only celebrates her culture by having her own individualized story: her last name, “Bîng,” means cookie in Mandarin, and was also one of her daughter’s first words; and she loves baking with her Grandma and going on picnics with her friends. She specifically loves “tarts, cookies, and anything made with red bean” according to Mak.
Within the team of Asian American, multi-generational designers, they all have hopes to celebrate each Asian heritage, so each doll comes with a unique background story and a favorite food paired to a particular Asian ethnicity. For Jilly, that is egg tarts.
In addition, when creating this doll, Mak noticed how most other dolls such as Barbie or American Girl Dolls are created with a mundane blank face, without a smile, so she aimed to change this odd commonality by creating Jilly with a sweet cheery smile.
ASA Vice President, Ponette Chen ’26, expressed, “With Jilly, Asian kids growing up can see themselves in someone, and know their features are normal, and they can feel more included.”
The Jilly doll also comes with an apron inspired dress, a short-sleeve shirt, bowtie, plastic sneakers, underpants, two triangular bandanas, and a chef’s hat which can convert into “L’il Tart,” “a sunny sidekick who is always ready for a fun adventure and snuggles,” all for $68.
On Nov. 2, The Shield and ASA club joined together to celebrate Jilly Bîng by raffling off a Jilly doll.
Winner of the raffle, Elizabeth Hsu ’24 said, “I think for other Asian kids, seeing themselves in dolls would make them feel more included, and normalized.”
Because of all the support Jilly has received, the Jilly Bîng dolls are currently on backorder, however those who place an order now, still have time to receive a doll in time for the holidays.
