Alrighty guys, let me start this off with a quick note:
Nothing about this post is in defense of Isaac Larian, the CEO of MGA Entertainment- Isaac’s tweets and accusations at Amina of StudioMucci are objectively indefensible and laced with racially charged insults. I’ve pretty much always thought of him as a shit person so he can get fucked and I have no desire to even think to defend him.
This post is entirely about Amina Mucciolo and whether or not the LOL Surprise doll Rainbow Raver (from Hairgoals wave 2) could have potentially been based off of her work- more specifically her hairstyle- and if she is, is that wrong or even legal?
Full analysis below the cut (it’s long as hell)
Let’s get started.
Amina Mucciolo’s first post with the hairstyle in question was on November 23rd, 2018 (this being the first time she had ever posted with this exact color scheme, as per the caption of the post):
As per the Amazon listing description for Lol Surprise Hairgoals Wave 2, the collection’s official release date was June 12th, 2019:
This collection had also leaked in early June, prior to the official release on Amazon, both via Taobao listings and by Target releasing a few cases prior to the street date on accident.
In doll and toy design, it typically takes 12 months or more to take a doll from the original concept sketch----> production and retail sale. There are less than 6 months between Amina’s first post and the official release of Hairgoals Wave 2 on Amazon, fewer if you account for the actual manufacturing times and the leaks prior to official release.
In order for MGA to have stolen Amina’s hairstyle for Rainbow Raver, they would have had to:
-Start an original design sketch
-Proof and revise the sketch multiple times
-Create a physical prototype of the design
-Source the materials and choose the colors of Rainbow Raver’s hair and clothing, then approve a factory sample out of potentially hundreds of samples
-Then finally, mass manufacture the doll for retail sale.
Something else to note is that Rainbow Raver is one of TEN dolls in Hairgoals Wave 2:
In order for MGA to have stolen Amina’s hairstyle for use in Hairgoals Wave 2, they would have had to stall the release of the other nine dolls, which all come in a single case, with the exception of EDM BB- the doll sitting next to Rainbow Raver- which was the Ultra Rare doll of the line and only came in every second case. Rainbow Raver, however, was sold in every single case of Hairgoals 2. (I would know, I got 4 of her out of 6 individual Hairgoals capsules I ordered on Amazon in June of 2019 lol)
In order for them to stall the release, which was timed alongside several other LOL Surprise releases for Fall, they would have had to risk losing several million dollars and push back every other release for 2019- thus throwing off their entire release and production schedule, and potentially ruining their relationship with retailers by not providing the stock they ordered on time.
It is logistically impossible that MGA would have been able to steal Amina’s hairstyle and produce a doll in 6 months, then insert her into a collection of nine other dolls.
But wait, there’s more.
In July 2019, MGA released the next collection of LOL Surprise dolls- The Winter Disco Lils collection:
This collection was comprised, almost entirely, of lil siblings for the dolls in Hairgoals wave 2..including Rainbow Raver’s Lil Sister:
So not only would MGA have had to delay the release of Hairgoals wave 2 in order to manufacture a doll based on Amina Mucciolo, they also would have had to delay the release of Winter Disco Lils- which I’ll also note, is one collection in a 4-part Winter Disco line for 2019, which also would have been delayed had MGA stolen Amina’s likeness for a single doll.
IN CONCLUSION: It is quite literally impossible for MGA to have stolen Amina’s likeness for this doll in the timeline needed for this to have happened, both from a production standpoint and a financial one.
Now! Let’s take a look at MGA’s design portfolio to see how they could have produced this doll without Amina’s hair as a reference:
In 2004, the Bratz Tokyo A Go Go line was released:
This line features colorful fashions, references to Japanese pop culture and....multicolored micro braids, even in pigtails:
I happen to have this entire collection and every doll has multicolored micro braids rooted into their hair, but I’m going to cite Fianna since her hair is the most similar to Rainbow Raver’s in that the micro braids are placed in the exact same manner- symmetrically rooted across the middle of her parting:
And Rainbow Raver’s hair:
One thing to also note is that Fianna also comes with two braids hanging loose by her face; this is notable on the stock pictures of the doll (I pulled the tendrils back on mine).
Now let’s look at some other MGA dolls through the years with similar design features, to establish that Rainbow Raver’s aesthetic is incredibly common for MGA dolls. I’m gonna go with the most notable ones because jeez there’s a lot.
Bratz Live in Concert (2005):
Photo credit to Max on Flickr
Brightly colored streaks, references to Japanese pop culture, pigtails.
Bratz Action Heroez (2013):
Bratz Twisty Style (2013):
Bratz Study Abroad Cloe (2016):
Note the colorfully-streaked pigtails and clear vinyl skirt, which is also a design featured on Rainbow Raver’s outfit:
Bratz Music Festival Vibez Jade (2016):
Yet another vinyl skirt, rainbow leggings, reference to music festival clothing (which is what Rainbow Raver is inspired by)
Also to note is that this collection was designed by some of the the same people that are currently on the LOL Surprise team.
Rainbow Dream features a hairstyle based in teal, with rainbow streaks throughout:
Clearly, rainbow streaks, micro braids and pigtails and rainbow striped clothing have been staples in MGA’s designs for well over a decade at this point.
So now that we’ve established that it’s all but impossible for MGA to have stolen Amina’s likeness for this doll, let’s ask:
Do companies use real-life people and artwork as inspiration in the design process?
I can tell you now, with absolute certainty, that toy companies DO use pictures of real people and artwork as inspiration and references for designs...just as almost every other company does, and that includes Studio Mucci.
Whether you think it’s wrong to use outside inspiration when designing a product or piece of artwork is up to you. I’m inclined to think you probably don’t think it’s wrong, unless you believe that everything you love, every TV show and every piece of artwork, came from a vacuum without external inspiration and references.
It totally didn’t by the way.
Is it legal to use outside inspiration, including photos of real people, as references for product design?
Unless the product point-blank copies a trademarked logo or design, yes.
None of the featured similarities between Amina and Rainbow Raver can be trademarked or copyrighted, and Amina cannot claim teal hair with rainbow streaks, or rainbows in general, as her Intellectual Property.
I’m going to end this post by saying that I feel for Amina. Black creatives are so often stolen from, undervalued and ignored, and it’s frankly irresponsible to expect a normal person to know this much about toy design schedules, and it’s even more irresponsible to expect a normal person to have a catalogue of every MGA toy release logged in their mind- heck even most doll collectors don’t think about this stuff.
And once you add in that MGA had hired her to do content for them, that even further cements the belief that they’d stolen her work.
But no matter how easy it is to believe that’s what happened, it’s factually impossible and Amina was just wrong on this one.
I think the official LOL Surprise statement was sufficient at providing a basic design timeline for people that probably don’t understand how long it takes to make a doll, and was incredibly respectful of Amina’s work and humanity.
Isaac Larian’s subsequent comments were disgusting, racist, and completely lacking in empathy for Amina’s feelings.
I hope Amina can move on from this, and that Isaac Larian learns to keep his big mouth shut- at least, after he issues a public and private apology to Amina personally, considers making a sizable donation to BLM to make up for the horrible things he said.
Hey everyone please watch and share this if you can.
tldr not only is the popular Lisa Frank hotel suspiciously similar to Studio Mucci/Tasselfairy's apartment design, their landlord (who is under the same rental development as the LF hotel) is refusing to take her rent money to forcefully evict her so they can capitalize off her art and work put into her space.
here are links to where you may support her: gofundme // her clothes shop
here’s the link to her tweet if you can retweet it!
I remember feeling really insecure and generally bad about my appearance when I took these in 2015. Now I just want to give this girl a hug and tell her how cute she is… so that’s what I’m doing! 🤗💕💕
