ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief history of the Kathe Kruse doll company and explores how it maintains tradition, ensures quality, and continually innovates to meet customer desires. It examines materials use, the work environment, and the control that workers have in the production process, as a way to consider these dolls in context of the sustainable product design framework. In 1905, Kathe Kruse, a young German actress and artist, founded the company. She was married to the sculptor Max Kruse, who was 30 years her senior. As a child, Andrea had loved Kathe Kruse dolls, and as a businesswoman she greatly admired Kathe Kruse for her entrepreneurship over many decades. The brand is interlinked so strongly with the doll. Kathe Kruse with dolls is like Mercedes with cars. The company uses some unusual materials, including reindeer hair from Scandinavia to stuff one type of classic doll, and human hair from India to produce wigs for all of the classic dolls.
