Instant Classics
A toy company breaks from the more-is-better mind-set and returns to vintage characters.
Bucking conventional wisdom, which dictates that toys should be pop-culture-driven with mechanical elements, Yottoy Productions creates toys inspired by vintage storybook characters. "While most of our [competitors] make toys with buttons, bells and whistles, we've always believed a toy should be 90 percent child and 10 percent toy," explains founder and president Kate Karcher Clark, 40. "We hit on something no one else was doing."
From the company's New York City studio, Karcher Clark and Peter Doodeheefver, 44, creative director and company vice president, design toys made of fabrics typically reserved for fashion. The company has won many awards and has an eclectic client list, which includes Neiman Marcus, the Library of Congress and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. More proof that Yottoy is onto something: The company has experienced double-digit growth over the past three years.