Barbie turns 65 – The pink phenomenon that refuses to retire

Her 65 years celebrates or and shows no desire to withdraw from her 250 different jobs she does as a plastic and fantastic. The original Mattel Barbie with her iconic blonde hair and her black and white full-length swimsuit was inspired by Ruth Hadler’s daughter, Barbara, in 1959. But now 2024, as Barbie celebrates her 65th birthday, dolls are made in a variety of colors, hair, body print and other criteria. “Barby used to be a more special reflection of beauty, more one-dimensional. Today, there are many Barbies and we have numerous aspects of it,” executive vice president of Mattel Lisa McNight told Reuters from Mattel’s Design Center in Los Angeles. Barbie is released in 35 tons of skin, 97 hair style and nine body types, among them dolls in a wheelchair, with Down syndrome, Vitiligo and plus-size, as well as gender neutral dolls. The doll recently emerged in fashion icon, as it inspired Barbiecore style and helped many accomplished hairdressers and clothing designers, such as Carl Lagerfeld at the beginning of their careers. Giving another boost to the development of the brand, the commercial success of 2023, the film with 8 Oscar nominations for Greta Gerwig, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, added a new emotional depth to the doll. However, any profits did not come overnight. “I am so grateful that I didn’t grow up with Barbie,” female rights activist Gloria Steinem said in the 2018 documentary for Barbie “Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie”. ” Barbie was everything we didn’t want to be and they told us to be,” she added. To date, the doll is still linked by some with unrealistic physical proportions, gender roles and Eurocentric beauty patterns. While taking into account these concerns, Mattel continues to add multifaceted dolls. The company is open to the different voices that exceed those of its designers. “What is more important to us is that we take into account advice from all kinds of communities when we plan,” said Kim Kalmon, vice president of planning. The dolls created for Barbie’s 65th birthday by the Filipino designer of Barbie Signature, Carlyle Nuera, are a modern version of the original Barbie in the swimsuit, this time with a black and white toilet accompanied by white sunglasses.