The Sex Doll Seller

About lonely charm. Sex sell (again).

How do you actually clean the abdomen of a sex doll? And for whom is this will-less dream of silicone and plastic interesting at all? Mr Li's business is booming. He is Austria's largest supplier of sex dolls, so-called Real Dolls and sells individually made casts of real women who promise to satisfy long-cherished fantasies and donate closeness. Our story is accompanied by works by the Austrian photo artist Guenter Parth, who replaced top models with specially designed real dolls in his coffee table book Diamonds & Pearls produced for Dolce & Gabbana

Text: Lisa Peres

Diamonds & Pearls

“The dolls are cast models of real women who live out there in the world somewhere.”

Why sex with a doll?

It is all about pure curiosity. The main reason is because the doll never says no. She does anything you want. You can live out your wildest fetishes with her, which you might be embarrassed of because you cannot practice them with your own wife or husband.

What kind of customers do you have?

It is a cross-section through all professional groups and classes, also a lot of artists, people from film or photographers; age-wise it’s the same, from successful 25-year-olds to retired businessmen. Also homosexuals. They all have jobs. The dolls are expensive, so you have to be able to afford it. And it is not just men! We also offer male dolls for women.

Do pairs also come?

Very often. For example, when one of the two is not so sexually active anymore, then the woman picks out a male doll and the husband pays for it. Or vice versa. But usually the man pays. (laughs) Actually, the doll is nothing more than a step up from a dildo or masturbator, a sex aid.

A new trend?

In Austria sexuality was treated with discretion for a long time and only practiced behind closed doors. In the meanwhile it has relaxed a bit, people talk about it more. Everyone has sex, needs sex. Sex sells. In Japan it is common practice for many families – with a house, children, garden, and dog – to also have a doll. It isn’t reprehensible there.

Each doll is specially made for the customer?

Yes, they are all one of a kind! The customer has the choice between ten and 20 different body types. Besides the hair length and color, the face, the body size and form, eye and skin color, there are numerous other configuration possibilities. By the way, the dolls are cast models of real women who live out there in the world somewhere, including scars or other life traces on the skin.

“Everything is detachable and exchangeable. There are no limits to the imagination.”

What kind of special wishes to the customers have?

Some want something to touch, more pelvis, more butt; others want the doll to be very skinny. Many people don’t want monster breasts rather smaller ones. There’s also fetishes: Some customers want to have sex with a pregnant woman. Then we make a pregnant doll. You can personally select everything, also the heads and faces or wigs. Or you buy different ones. Everything is detachable and exchangeable. There are no limits to the imagination.

The price of the doll ranges between 2000 and 10,000 Euros. What are the differences?

For 2000 Euros you get a cheaper model, a puppet cast out of TPE, that’s a thermoplastic rubber with softening agents. It comes from China. But the disadvantage is that the material is quite rubbery, less like skin, everything feels the same, you cannot simulate tissue like you can with more expensive models.

The higher-priced models feel more authentic?

It is like comparing a Volkswagen with a Porsche. With the luxury dolls they don’t just make a simple cast, special forms are used for the knees – it has to do with the viscosity. We order the high-grade platinum silicone for the luxury variants in the USA, and our clients immediately notice the difference in the haptics. It feels like real human skin, there’s not a big difference anymore.

“During sex the man barely notices a difference to a real woman.”

How much does such a doll weigh?

About 55 kilograms. Like a real woman. With her rigidity it naturally feels like a bit more. Many customers underestimate that – that’s why we suggest coming here, to have a look at the dolls, then we can also see the customer’s physical build and recommend which model is best suited.

Can I also define the vagina and penis size?

Yeah, of course. You can decide how well the doll is equipped. We have a standard size with 14 centimeter dildos, the luxury models vary between 18 and 20 – the lady can decide. She can also buy different dildos and attach them as she likes. The same goes for vaginas. Exchangeable vaginas are very interesting for brothels.

How does the production process work technically?

We developed a 3D scanner which can be inserted in the labia of a woman and makes an inner imprint, and then it is produced according to this imprint. During sex the man barely notices a difference to a real woman.

How do you know that?

Tests were made with 10,000 blindfolded men in China if they could make a distinction between a real and a simulated vagina during sex. 7000 could not tell the difference.

“At the escort service you can order a doll for the whole night. – That sounds like pizza service...”

You cooperate directly with brothels in Vienna?

We work together with a number of brothels. In Laufhaus Vienna there are four dolls from us. We send our customers there so they can test the dolls. When they enjoy it they can order their own special wishes from us. What’s more, the first doll escort service opened recently in Vienna, which uses our dolls exclusively.

Escort service? That sounds like pizza service...

Yeah, something like that. (laughs) You can order a doll for the whole night. The customers calls, and the escort service brings the packed and dressed doll directly to his living room.

What is the production time for such a doll?

Approximately six to eight weeks. The factory is located in China where the casting molds are produced. Then it has to dry, which sometimes can take a bit longer. And then it is shipped to Austria for quality assurance and thereafter it goes on sale.

You also offer servicing and repairs?

We get the dolls from the brothels for a complete makeover on a regular basis. They’re in heavy use there. We’ve seen everything from bite marks and tears to even stab wounds and broken bones. One time every joint of a doll was broken. I have to say, I’m really happy that they are dolls and not real people.

“I have a couple of Russian customers who say that a doll is still cheaper than a real woman.”

How is the doll cleaned?

As the material comes from the medical sector, it is dirt and stain resistant. The ejaculate in the doll – when the customer doesn’t use a condom during sex – is cleaned out with a pump system. The doll is filled with a soap solution with a spraying mechanism. As soon as the inside of the doll is saturated with enough moisture, the material repels everything else. It runs out of the doll completely and nothing remains attached to the doll. In the worst case, the vagina has to be replaced. That costs about 100 Euros.

How strong, in your opinion, is the relationship with the doll? Can this also become a bit pathological?

We frequently get photos from our customers. Sometimes the dolls are wearing 30,000 Euros worth of jewelry and the most expensive dessous, sitting in a Ferrari, funny stuff like that. A lot of money is invested into these dolls. I have a couple of Russian customers who say that a doll is still cheaper than a real woman.

Well, I would be a bit cheaper…

(laughs) We also have doll collectors – they don’t even have sex with the dolls. A trend at the moment are these silicone baby dolls. One collector already had hundreds of them and then had a mother produced for them. Or once I received this photo from a farmer, who placed his doll in a bathtub under an umbrella out in the pasture. I guess she should watch him work in wind and weather.

“The doll helps prevent complete isolation.”

Doesn’t that make one terribly isolated in the end?

Quite the contrary, I see it very differently. A person can decide when he wants to end a relationship, whether he wants to be alone or isolated, or if he wants to live together with a doll. I think its absolutely human, instead of having nothing.

Yes, but he could also go out and meet a real woman…

Sure, but after the end of a relationship there is a personal wall, and overcoming it takes different times for different people, some people never get over it. The doll helps prevent complete isolation. 

In Japan the government has provided sex dolls to its employees in remote outposts since the 1950s…

I think that could also work in social spheres as well. People who are disabled and in need of care, who cannot easily have sexual contacts, have just as much right to sexual satisfaction. These people will receive care till the end of their lives, but other needs are ignored. Sex dolls could be a remedy here.

“Children dolls are reserved to brothels.”

Health insurance could cover the costs…

That would be desirable for us, but the government would have to become far more open-minded. Once a pensioner in Linz ordered a doll for his brother, who has been severely physically and mentally disabled since birth, so he can finally live out his sexuality. I found that touching. He invested all of his savings for that.

Do you also make children dolls?

In my company I solved it like this: We do not sell dolls under 148 centimeters tall to our private customers, that corresponds with the height of a short woman. Children dolls are reserved to brothels where they are used in a controlled environment. Here we can justify that this “fetish” also needs to be satisfied. I think if a pedophile has sex with a doll instead of with a real child, then the doll has fulfilled its purpose. A person who has such a curiosity and is never satisfied is going to do it for real sometime. In this way, he has the opportunity to try it out without doing any harm to anyone.

The dolls can also communicate at the touch of a button?

Currently this process is still in development. Soon, via a software with self-learning artificial intelligence and an app, one will be able to control the way she speaks or moans. After two months of interaction she will give more and more intelligent answers.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Number one in Europe. 

This photostory was published in the print edition #1 “The Private Issue”. You can order the magazine in our SHOP.

Mr. Li distributes his sex dolls from his office in Hietzing. You can find the website of "Real Doll Companion GmbH" here: www.real-companion.com

The photographer Guenter Parth grew up with the legendary print magazines of the eighties and nineties such as "Wiener", "Tempo" or "i-D Magazine". He already had celebrities like Jerry Hall, Billy Wilder and Quentin Tarantino in front of his lens. When he's not working on various book and art projects, he photographs for "10 Magazine", "Rolling Stone", "Elle Italia" and "Elle China". You can read our interview with the photo artist here.

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