The Empire That Creepy Creatures Built

 by Anne Kadet

Five years ago, Washington Street resident Wendy Gardner sewed a spooky, wicked-faced stuffed animal for her friend’s baby shower. Vicious French Bulldog, as she dubbed him, was the hit of the party.

Wendy Gardner holds Wendy Woo, modeled after herself.

Since then, Vicious French Bulldog has been joined by 17 other surreal creatures, many based on Tribeca pets, as well as Gardner posters, stationary, lollipops, jigsaw puzzles and cell phone covers. Her nasty-looking creations, which sell in countries from Japan to England and in more than 200 museum stores and high-end gift shops, not only grace kids’ rooms but are fetishized by hipster parents and teen skateboarders alike.


“I think people like to have stuffed animals and don’t want to admit it,” explains 40-year-old Gardner, an art-school grad who managed a Brooklyn boxing gym before launching her line. “They can buy these and call it a home accent!”

The brightly colored creatures reflect Gardner’s wry sense of humor. A Cat Named Marty Cohen, named after

Gardner’s cat, features a bold patchwork body and a horrified expression. Dig Ivan Dig, modeled after a Duane Street pooch with a penchant for you-guess-what, gazes up with stubby outstretched arms and plaintive, widely spaced eyes. Then there’s Bite Me Bobo, a devil-red and vaguely criminal pooch inspired by a Tribeca bulldog who sat on a fire escape all day long, barking at passers-by. Wendy Woo, modeled after Gardner herself, comes complete with thick bangs, long locks and a wide, ghastly grin. It’s an odd self-portrait for the sweet-natured artist, six months pregnant, who runs around her toy-strewn loft chasing 20-month-old daughter Janet.

The brightly colored creatures reflect Gardner’s wry sense of humor. A Cat Named Marty Cohen, named after Gardner’s cat, features a bold patchwork body and a horrified expression. Dig Ivan Dig, modeled after a Duane Street pooch with a penchant for you-guess-what, gazes up with stubby outstretched arms and plaintive, widely spaced eyes. Then there’s Bite Me Bobo, a devil-red and vaguely criminal pooch inspired by a Tribeca bulldog who sat on a fire escape all day long, barking at passers-by. Wendy Woo, modeled after Gardner herself, comes complete with thick bangs, long locks and a wide, ghastly grin. It’s an odd self-portrait for the sweet-natured artist, six months pregnant, who runs around her toy-strewn loft chasing 20-month-old daughter Janet.

Gardner’s first big break came courtesy of friends who stocked the doll in the furniture store they own on Franklin Street. That snagged Gardner a mention in New York Magazine. Then she struck up a friendship at a toy fair with a Czech manufacturer, winning herself an invite to share a coveted booth at the next fair, where Japanese manufacturers fell for the dolls’ big eyes and simple lines.

Not that the journey has been easy. Gardner recalls spending long nights at the sewing machine, furiously churning out thousands of dolls as orders from high-end boutiques rolled in. Then there was the debacle that occurred when a shoddy manufacturer delivered a shipment of creatures with stuffing bursting out of their faces to tony Conrans in London. After receiving an angry call, Gardner, who was in England staying at the home of her husband Fabian Friedland’s parents, had the dolls brought to her. She resewed all 200 by hand.

These days the dolls are made in China, and Gardner spends long hours designing new creatures on her computer, coordinating shipments, writing verse for her line of Scary Stories children’s books and, of course, responding to fan mail. Her admirers tend to be as quirky as her creations. One fan left a drunken voice mail message claiming to have kidnapped one of the creatures and demanding ransom money.

With revenues hitting $1 million in 2001 and growing by about 20 percent annually, the possibilities for the line’s expansion seem endless. Whatever the future of her creepy characters, Gardner says that she still designs them to make her laugh—though marketers don’t always share her sense of humor.

“I have a new character named Henry Loves Your Woolly Socks. Originally, I wanted to call it Henry Loves Your Hairy Leg. They decided against it. I guess that was just a little too risqué.”