On August 2, 2023, Barbie dolls are on display and for sale at the antique store Huber & Cossack in Vienna, Austria.
Los Angeles (Reuters) — At 65 years old, Barbie shows no signs of retiring from her 250 different jobs, a wonderful plastic doll whose tiny feet have left a huge cultural imprint on the human world.
The original Mattel Barbie, with her iconic blonde hair, black-and-white swimsuit, and side-slanted eyes, was created in 1959 and was inspired by author Ruth Handler's daughter Barbara.
But in 2024, Barbie will be 65 years old, so the dolls are produced in a variety of colors, hair textures, body shapes, and more.
“Barbie used to be more one-dimensional, a reflection of a more singular beauty. Now there are many Barbie dolls and we have different views on the brand,” said the executive. Lisa McKnight, vice president and global head of Barbie & Dolls, told Reuters at the Mattel Design Center in Los Angeles.
Barbie dolls come in 35 skin tones, 97 hairstyles, and nine body types, including wheelchairs, Down syndrome, vitiligo, plus-size dolls, and gender-neutral dolls.
The doll has also recently become a fashion icon, inspiring Barbiecore and helping launch many famous hairstylists and clothing designers like Karl Lagerfeld.
In addition to the evolution of the brand, the commercial success of the eight-time Oscar-nominated 2023 Barbie movie, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, will bring new emotional depth to Barbie. I have joined.
However, these results did not come overnight.
Women's rights activist Gloria Steinem said in the Barbie documentary Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie, which aired on Hulu in 2018, “I'm so grateful I didn't grow up with Barbie.'' “There is,” he said.
“Barbie was everything we didn't want to be, everything we were told we should be,” she said, referring to her work as a second-wave feminist advocate of equality in the 1960s and 1970s. he added.
To this day, some people associate this doll with unrealistic body proportions, gender roles, and Eurocentric beauty standards.
With these concerns in mind, Mattel continues to add pink faceted dolls.
The brand embraces a variety of voices beyond the designer's.
“What's most important to us is that we're open to all kinds of community input as we design,” said Kim Crumone, Mattel's vice president of Barbie design.
But even as it expands, there are some things that remain true for the toy brand, like hand-painting Barbie dolls and using the same sewing machines that have been used since 1959.
Whether you're sculpting a new doll by hand or working with an advanced 3D printer, this brand can change.
Created by Carlyle Nuera, Barbie Signature's lead Filipino designer, the 65th Anniversary doll reimagines the original Barbie swimsuit as a black and white gown with white cat-eye sunglasses.
As well as classic white dolls with blonde hair, there are also black dolls with braids and laid edges, popular styles for black women that include soft, smooth baby hair.
“If we kept doing the same thing over and over again, Barbie wouldn't have the success it has today,” Carmone said.
