Out with the Bratz; in with the bookworms: Identical twin sisters create ethnically diverse dolls from countries around the world

Forget Bratz and Beatrix girls: Identical twin sister entrepreneurs have created a new range of dolls who dream of becoming bookworms, multi-lingual researchers and innovators.

Native New Yorkers Carlissa and Laken King created Elle & Cee World Dolls in order to celebrate diversity and promote cross-cultural learning and positive self-esteem.

The sisters say that they came up with the idea when they were just 17 years old and flipping through a pile of fashion magazines.

'Passing time in the school library with our best friend, we grabbed a stack of magazines and processed the images on each page. It wasn’t long before one of us addressed what we were all thinking: where’s the diversity?' the girls wrote on their website.

'Not only did we feel like there weren't enough girls on the pages who looked like us, or spoke to our experiences, but we realized there were so many girls who were underrepresented in these publications.'

They considered launching a fashion magazine, but soon came to the conclusion that their true passion was for education and interacting with people from all walks of life.

In creating the dolls' backstory, the sisters decided that they would all be 11 years old and hail from different countries covering all seven continents.

The parent dolls, Liberty and Clementine, are twin sisters who have seven children: Edwidge, Aurora, Hilaria, Sidony, Ace, Nova and Alivia.

In the dolls’ story, each will receive a gold envelope when they turn 18. The contents of each envelope will predict their destinies - each will become a defender, a scholar, a rebel, an explorer, a warrior, an innovator, or a healer.

Carlissa and Laken are currently creating a Kickstart campaign to raise funding for their creations. Pemberly from the USA, Maud from Germany and Zazi from Barbados will be the first three dolls available.

In addition to dolls, the sisters hope to create a global network to connect girls from all walks of life.

'The dolls would hail from different countries and we’d create a community for girls all over the world to share their stories, discover their interests, and become positive ambassadors of the world,' they wrote.

'It would enable girls to connect the global dots at an earlier age.'