(AD - Gifted) My eldest daughter often changes her mind about what she wants to be when she is older. The list includes: an artist, a pop star, a fashion designer and an influencer. Although when she says them she inserts the word “famous” in front of each career choice. At 9 years old the world is her oyster, but if she really wants to get famous she probably needs to get developing her skills. Of course she doesn’t want to spend time on the boring basics right now, preferring to play and I actively encourage that. A "real" fashion designer probably needs to understand the way fabrics fall, be able to draw the images they can see in their mind and learn to sew. M just wants to get on and design great dresses, which is exactly what the Harumika Fashion Design Sets allow children to do. We were sent some Harumika to review so read on to find out how these playsets for young fashion fans work.
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| Harumika Review |
Review of Hurumika Fashion Design Sets
What is Harumika?
Harumika from Bandai are fashion kits aimed at children age 6 and upwards. They allow you to easily design miniature dresses. We were sent a range of Harumika sets to review including: Neon Beast, Asian Dream, Candy Wedding Party and the Bridal Gown Set. Each set allows you to easily create a range of dress styles. Depending on the set you get: 1 or 2 mannequins (about the size of a Barbie), between 3 and 6 pieces of fabric, a stylus and plastic pins. The mannequin has an open section along the back and various holes, you use these with the stylus and pins to keep fabric in place. There is no sewing, cutting or gluing involved. Once you take the dress of the mannequin it comes apart and you can design something new. This does mean that you can't put your dress on a doll unless you decided to sew it.
Originally launched in 2009, new sets have recently been released to inspire a whole new generation of fashionistas. On the back of each box there are various creations to inspire children, but there are a huge number of combinations they could come up with on their own depending on how the fabric is folded and layered. The mannequins have a base which allow them to stand up so the latest design can be easily displayed on a shelf for all to see.
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The contents of the Harumika Candy Wedding Party set |
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Fabric stays in place when pushed into the silicone edged gap in the
mannequin's back |
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Using the stylus to push the fabric into the back of the mannequin |
The designs can’t be put on actual dolls because they are held in place by the pins and fall apart as soon as they are taken off the torso, but they are a really easy way to have lots of fun designing dresses and they have definitely inspired my daughter to be more creative.
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Inspiring young fashionistas |
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You can reuse the materials to make design after design |
The Harumika range is available from The Entertainer and Amazon with a number of different sets available:
The single torso assortment contains: a mannequin, a stylus design tool, 10 pins, 3 pieces of fabrics and comes in 4 different mood boards including Street Blues, Neon Beast, Charming Countryside and Sweet Peru. These are RRP £12.99. We received the Neon Beast set which has some really fun prints included.
The double torso assortment includes 2 mannequins, a stylus design tool, 20 pins, 4 pieces of fabric and 1 ribbon or belt. It is available in 4 different styles : Frozen Fruits, Cosmic Kawaii, Yummy All Over and Asian Dream. These sets are RRP £19.99 and we received the Asian Dream set.
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| Part of the Neon Beast Double Torso Harumika set |
The wedding themed sets include satin and lace making them perfect for the Big Day. There are two styles to choose from: The Bridal Gown set and Candy Wedding Party both of which have 2 mannequins, the stylus, plenty of pins, 6 pieces of fabric and a ribbon. These sets are both RRP £24.99 and we received them to review.
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Harumika Bridal Gown Set |
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The Bridal Gown set comes with a range of fabrics |
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A sparkling satin bridesmaid dress design with the Harumika Bridal
Gown set |
Review of Harumika: What We Thought
These sets are a really great way to inspire creativity and cultivate a love for fashion. The silicon strip at the back of the mannequin makes it easy to hold fabric in place exactly where you want it. These sets are designed so you don’t have to use scissors or sew and you can use the fabric over and over again for different creations. My daughter has created everything from elegant ball gowns to short, funky designs.
After playing with them for some time my daughter said it was a shame that you can’t design dresses with arms, but I have pointed out how hard that would be to do and I think the current design of mannequins is better.
The shape of the mannequin is tall and thin with a narrow waist. They are women, rather than children and don't represent those with a fuller figure. I am ok with this as it's the shape I am used to from mannequins and fashion dolls. With no head, arms or legs this is just a shape to dress, but in the future it would be good to see more representative body shapes in the sets.
I love that you can just keep on creating new designs and you can even use some of your own material or ribbons. My daughter has found it really inspiring and has even used the concept to make some wrap around dresses for her other dolls (but without sewing and the specially designed mannequin to hold the fabric in place the designs are much more limited).
I think Harumika will appeal to a wide age range (even I couldn't help from having a go) and I can see that the sets we received will be well played with.
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M loved reviewing and playing with the Harumika sets |
Frequently Asked Questions
What age range is Harumika suitable for?
Bandai suggest the sets are suitable for age 6 and up, but my 5 year old was interested and able to do some basic designs. The upper age range depends on the child, but I think they would start to lose interest around age 11 (but if you are looking for presents for Tweens check out this gift guide). Having said that when I shared about these on Instagram lots of adults loved them too.
Can you put the designs on dolls?
The dresses come apart as soon as you take them off the mannequins, however it may encourage children to learn to sew so they can create dresses for other dolls.
Can you use any material?
The sets come with a few pieces of fabric and ribbon etc, but there is no reason you can't add other fabric into your designs.
***Disclosure: we were sent these sets for honest review***
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