Wanting to give her rock star husband something special to keep him company on the road, Stevens approached Sinthetics and commissioned a life-sized doll of herself. The resulting “Josie Doll” was a hit with her new owner, and according to the company, the resulting publicity from the show was so tremendous that Sinthetics was born and a new website launched.
“Turns out the show had a different demographic to what was expected,” Sinthetics’ Bronwen said. “We do continue to get queries about the Josie Doll, however, and the show got people talking and sparked some new interest in the industry. It was a really fun project and we hope to do more like it in the future.”
Before there was Sinthetics, Stevens got in touch with the husband-and-wife team, Matt and Bronwen, after seeing Matt’s work on a modeling/art website, and ultimately seeking him out.
“Although we always work from life reference, it’s very rare for us to have the pleasure of making a likeness doll mostly because of the high development costs involved,” Bronwen said. “When we do a likeness doll it’s from a combination of 3D digital scans, life casts/body molds and sculpting. All the detail that you ultimately see on a Sinthetic is sculpted and refined by hand. We do hope to do more likeness dolls in the future and we’re always open to new opportunities.”
According to the company, their product is not a doll, but a “Manikin.”
“We make the distinction between ‘love dolls’ and ‘Manikins’ because we don’t want to pigeon-hole our product or the people who buy Sinthetics,” Bronwen said. “It’s always the easy go-to for people to judge the dolls as love dolls, but we really consider them so much more.
“For the owners of the company and the employees, these dolls are surrogates, models, muses, companions … It seems unfair to short-change or reduce their personal value by lumping them in with inflatables and other low-end love dolls. Each of the Sinthetics is made as art. They just happen to be highly functional art with a naughty twist!”
Among the innovative functions of the platinum silicone Manikins are built-in heat and gel buttocks options, and a proprietary internal joint system that allows for increased posability, flexibility and durability.
“Sinthetics are unique in the industry because of the unparalleled realism and range of motion,” Bronwen said. “These are by far the most posable of the synthetic companions currently on the market. We’re also the first U.S. maker to have built-in heat and gel buttocks as available upgrades. The body type we have debuted it with is also unique, which we can thank Josie from ‘Married to Rock’ for.”
Sinthetics.com features a line of standard dolls that are tailored with details at a customer’s request.
“Each one is made to order to the client’s specifications,” Bronwen said. “From the beginning of the order queue to shipment is typically about 8–12 weeks, depending on how many orders are in the queue and which selections are chosen.”
Sinthetics.com features galleries showing off recently designed and delivered manikins down to the last detail. Customers can browse the available selections and sign-up for a free membership, which allows them to build their ultimate dream girl.
“We really have put a lot of love into the site and enjoy keeping it fresh,” Bronwen said. “Look for a change with the season when we enjoy spring’s arrival next week! We’re also working on adding our own message board so we can really get to know our fans and iDollator friends.”
