This Article is From WWD. The first three photos are mine.
Jason Wu is in a playful mood.
The 42-year-old fashion designer has launched Atomic Lab, an e-commerce platform dedicated to limited-edition dolls inspired by icons in fashion, entertainment and contemporary art.
The inaugural release features international drag performer Nymphia Wind, the first East Asian winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Season 16. The doll will retail for $150 and is available exclusively on AtomicLabToys.com. Only 1,500 dolls will be produced and the doll is available now for pre-order with estimated delivery on Oct. 30. {She shipped at the end of December, 2025}
Atomic Lab will spotlight influential personalities through collectible drops, blending high fashion and pop culture.
“I started playing with dolls when I was, like 6. There’s something so glamorous about doll playing. And it was so forbidden in Taiwan. My parents bought me dolls anyway,” said Wu, in an interview Monday at his New York headquarters.
When Wu moved to Canada at the age of 9, he discovered the world of designer dolls, and his mother bought him a Bob Mackie Barbie. “I learned fashion through that, and I begged my mom for a sewing machine. I started copying things from Vogue, and made them mini-scale,” and that’s how he learned how to sew and design. The designer has been designing fashion for 18 years.
At 16 years old, Wu joined Integrity Toys, where he launched the now iconic, “Jason Wu Dolls.” His early work included the introduction of the RuPaul doll in 2005, celebrating the drag icon long before mainstream recognition. In 2006, he released the first transgender art doll, a limited-edition collaboration with transgender model Amanda Lepore, featuring photography by David LaChapelle and sold exclusively at the New York City retailer Jeffrey. In 2008, Wu partnered with Capitol Records to create a doll inspired by then rising star Katy Perry, just ahead of her chart-topping debut, “I Kissed a Girl.” Since then, Wu has continued his partnership with Integrity Toys releasing exclusive dolls in partnership with Net-a-porter, Bergdorf Goodman and others.
Wu described Atomic Lab as “a pop culture project."
“It’s a project that is more than fashion. It’s more than dolls,” said Wu. He said dolls become miniature mementos of the time they’re made. “So it’s always been very important, and it reflected what people looked like at the time,” he said. Because of his career as a fashion designer, he’s been able to meet so many people from different walks of life. He plans to release one new doll a month, and it will be available exclusively on his website, atomiclabtoys.com. The dolls are made in China.
Wu said he always likes to have his finger on the pulse and figure out who’s next. Wu believes that fashion and pop culture are completely intertwined. “It always was, but now more than ever.”
He said the doll could be a living or deceased person “in a movie, it could be a TV show I like, it could be somebody in music, it could be a cartoon. I have six very different people [so far],” he said. He gets in touch with the people or their foundations to license the doll.
“You know how there’s Comic-Con and Marvel and Superman, and people really go crazy. This is the gay version,” he said.
“People love dolls. I don’t know any fashion designers who didn’t grow up playing with dolls,” he said.
Atomic Lab’s first doll, Nymphia Wind, is also from Taipei and is famous for her signature color banana yellow and her couture-campy aesthetic. She began her drag career on the stages of Taipei and New York City, before spreading banana fever all across the globe.
“It’s kinda surreal and a great honor,” said Wind, when asked what it means to collaborate with Wu. “Because growing up I knew about Jason Wu from the news as an up-and-coming designer that had a background in doll designing. So to be able to collaborate on a doll years later is so full circle,” she said.
Commenting on how the Nymphia doll reflects her personality, Wind said, “She is obviously in full signature banana yellow. She’s bright, she’s playful, she’s dramatic just like me.
“It’s pushing fashion and fantasy forward. Dolls are art, and I always imagined my drag persona as a doll that I’m dressing up. So to have a dollifed version of me is very exciting,” she said.
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| The signature, Nymphia Wind is quite cool as it looks as if the box were signed. |
Blowing in from Taipei, Nymphia Wind is the winner of RuPaul's Drag Race season 16 and the first East Asian queen to ever snatch the crown.
Famous for her signature color banana yellow and couture-campy aesthetic, she began her drag career on the stages of Taipei and New York City before spreading banana fever all across the globe. Get your daily dose of potassium from Nymphia, and she will make you into a banana believer.
Hair: Banana Yellow Saran
Body Type: GlamFlex™ fully articulated body with 14 points of articulation and interchangeable hands.
The Nymphia Wind doll, first in our ICONS ONLY series, celebrates the drag performer’s signature “banana queen” style. Our debut product features a brand new, 1/6 scale (12") articulated fashion doll body with 14 points of articulation for endless posing possibilities. From her contoured features to her glamorous eye makeup (complete with rooted and curled eyelashes), she mirrors the makeup artistry that Ms. Wind is renowned for. The Nymphia Wind doll comes dressed in a yellow, lace-up corset lingerie set, complete with “pearl” embellished hosiery and working garter belt. To top off this fabulous ensemble there is of course a dramatic floor length bright yellow faux fur coat, fully lined in matching charmeuse.
Accessories include faux diamond necklace, chandelier earrings, and intricate clear yellow PVC pumps.
Doll stand, extra set of hands, and numbered certificate of authenticity are included.
NOTE: Prototype doll is shown and final product may vary slightly
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IMO, the real image of Nymphia Wind is much more attractive than the doll.
I love the partially opened mouth.
Too bad they didn't get the nose right or the sensuality of the mouth. |
I just read that the extra head is a different sculpt. There are only minor differences. The face needs improvement. If we were supposed to get a smiling face, we didn't.
The packaging is beautiful. The box is a very heavy-weight cardboard in banana yellow. When you take off the cover, you are greeted by a clear plastic, removable insert so she can be displayed without removal.
More information on Nymphia Wind: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymphia_Wind
