Empowering and inspiring the next generation of Muslim girls
Young girls love dolls. And for many, they are an important and compelling medium to create lasting memories.
Peter Gould explains “with young daughters ourselves, we noticed that dolls didn’t represent contemporary Muslim girls – females with diverse influences and interests, from science to fashion to sport.”
This resulted in Salam Sisters by Zileej, a collection of five culturally diverse characters who are faith-grounded, fun, modest fashion-forward, and future thinking.”
Starting with our intention to bring joy to young Muslim girls, we created initial sketches of 5 characters. After many months of iterating and refining, the identities of Layla, Karima, Yasmina, Nura, and Maryam took shape.
The first moulds of the dolls were hand-crafted by artisans in Spain who have been making dolls for generations, to craft truly unique features for each doll. It was important to us to create fashionable clothing, so we created original clothing designs and 2 unique doll-friendly headscarves.
It was a heartwarming moment to see all the different elements come together in the hands of the young girls who play-tested the dolls.
Alongside the traditional doll-play experience, it was important to bring in technology in a thoughtful and wholesome way. We helped to design 3D versions of the dolls that came to life in augmented reality (AR) through the Salam Sisters app.
The world of the Salam Sisters was also deepened with individual stories & thoughtful activity books created for each character. Written by Muslim authors, the books explore different themes of generosity, positive competition, discovery, leadership, sports, faith, Eid celebrations, and more.
The story of the Salam Sisters continues to thrive in the hearts of a generation of young Muslim girls who are building memories through play, with dolls that they can relate to.
