raplapla began the way a lot of good Montreal stories do: with someone losing a job and deciding to make something better than what was on the market. For designer Erica Perrot, that meant sewing a soft doll for her daughter—one so fiercely protected that she had to remake it for other children. That accidental demand became a full-time operation in 2005, run from a Mile End kitchen before expanding into a boutique-workshop where the sewing machine still sets the rhythm.

The shop has grown into a small ecosystem: handmade dolls with lived-in personalities, a repair “hospital” for beloved companions, and a team that stitches, stuffs, restores, and occasionally negotiates with toddlers about decapitated plushies. Everything is made locally, in small batches, with a sense of humour baked into the brand. raplapla isn’t just selling toys; it’s keeping the relationship between child and comfort object alive, one eccentric fabric friend at a time.