It’s Going To Be Another Barbie Summer

On March 9, 1959, a lady named  Ruth Handler, birthed a fully grown doll. Yes, she already had given birth to real children and it was watching them play with ‘baby’ dolls and seeing them acting out more adult scenarios with them that drove her to create The Barbie Doll. Over a billion sold dolls later this iconic ‘plastic’ lady comes to London Design Museum for her first London exhibition.

For a 61-year-old barbie is looking good. Yes her figure has changed over the years moving with the fashions, but let’s be honest this plastic icon looks great.

And it’s fair to say she has had over the years the most magnificent wardrobe, full of designer outfits, that could make us green with envy. When she arrived on planet Earth even her first outfit turned heads.

Known by collectors as ‘Number 1 Barbie’ she wore a black-and-white zebra-striped figure-hugging swimsuit and signature topknot ponytail. Available as either a blonde or brunette and sent out into the world as a “Teenage Fashion Model”. Mattel’s in-house fashion designer Charlotte Johnson initially created her first outfits and then Carol Spencer, who was Barbie’s fashion designer from 1963 to 1999.

1959 Barbie No. 1 © Mattel, Inc.

But over the years she has had fashions made for her by a handful of the most important designers in the world. Barbie by Bob Mackie, Ralph Lauren, Bill Blass, Dior, Giorgio Armani, Givenchy,  and Barbie by Burberry to name but a few.

Although we know her boyfriend is Ken we have no idea how many times she has been married but we do not know this style diva has worn wedding gowns designed by Vera Wang and Carolina Herrera, alongside Christian Louboutin designing a special pair of pink shoes for her. As for her choice of make-up? Mac of course.

This is just a tiny fraction of the world of this 11.5 inch lady. But worry not, a new exhibition at the Design Museum explores Barbie’s changing appearance exploring her evolving cultural shifts and her diverse representation.

Highlights include some of the most recognisable and best-selling dolls, including the ‘surfer girl’ Sunset Malibu Barbie from 1971 and which was one of the most popular of the decade, and the ground-breaking Day to Night Barbie from 1985 that was designed to reflect the workplace revolution for women in the 1980s.

1992 Totally Hair Barbie photographed by Petra Rajnicova for the Design Museum

Visitors will be able to trace the changing silhouettes of mainstream fashion over the last 65 years through the exhibition, and they will see the influence of designers from Claire McCardell and Christian Dior, to Nolan Miller via  Zac Posen. 

Of course, her work-attired pink suit transformed into a chic evening gown. There will also be two examples of 1992’s Totally Hair Barbie, the best-selling Barbie of all time which has sold staggeringly over 10 million. 

There are examples of the first Black, Hispanic and Asian dolls to bear the Barbie name on display, as well as dolls that reflect today’s diverse, multicultural society. These include the first Barbie with Down’s syndrome, alongside the first to use a wheelchair, and the first to be designed with a ‘curvy’ body shape.

2016 Barbie Fashionista Blue Brocade ©Mattel, Inc.

Also open for exploration are exclusive, behind-the-scenes insights into Mattel’s design processes, and a detailed exploration of the Barbie doll as a technically and materially innovative creation.  On display is a rare first edition of Number 1 Barbie’, the very first model released in 1959 amongst 250 other objects on show. 

Special and rare dolls on show will include a unique prototype of the very first Talking Barbie (1968), which is one of several rare items borrowed directly from the Mattel headquarters archives in Los Angeles.

Special items on show include a custom miniature Swarovski crystal-embellished British fashion designer Richard Quinn attired doll displayed next to the original full-length gown from his Autumn/Winter 2021 show, and the Samantha Cristoforetti Astronaut Barbie that, being Barbie, travelled to space and flew on the International Space Station.

Being a modern and popular lady many of  Barbie’s friends are also on show, including her first friend, Midge, and the much-loved Christie and Teresa; as well as the younger sister of Barbie, Skipper. There’ll also be a section dedicated to her beau Ken, which shows six decades’ worth of Ken dolls charting his evolution from 1961.

1962 Barbie Dream House © Mattel, Inc.

And don’t forget it was not just fashion whose life Barbie touched at the exhibition see the influence of major designers and architects from Florence Knoll to Frank Gehry on the Barbie universe.

1961 Austin Healy. © Mattel, Inc.

Guests at the gala entered through the museum’s pink-bathed fountain and included Yasmine Finney, Dame Zandra Rhodes, Christopher Kane, Stephen Jones OBE, Mary Charteris & Robbie Furze, Sarah Mower MBE, Zara Martin, Dennis Okwera, Amelia Windsor, Astile Doherty, Bianca Bustamanti, Bishi, Connie Constance, Daisy de Villeneuve, Daniel Lismore, David Sassoon, Deborah Ababio, James Corbin, Lily Nova, Philip Sallon, Princess Julia, Sohee Park, Charley Dean Sayers, Toni Ibekwe, David Sassoon, Faith Lynch, and Darkwah.

Triples that were enjoyed included Nyetimber English Sparkling Wine, Chemin de la Serre Viognier 2021 White Wine, Peroni Beers, as well as Raspberry & Pink Peppercorn alcohol-free cocktails, whilst listening to DJ f Zara Martin who spun a playlist that included Barbie The Movie soundtrack favourites Charli XCX ‘Speed Drive’, Dua Lipa ‘Dance The Night’, and Sam Smith ‘Man I Am!’  

The whole evening was set off with dazzling all-pink lighting and a Barbie closet, Barbie box, bar and DJ booth made bespoke by Fisher Productions. Seasonal floristry by Lavender Green in a modern pink palette topped off the immersive guest experience.

The final section of the show spotlights the enduring role Barbie has as a pop culture icon, looking at her impact on design in all its forms, from fashion to film, as well as the Barbie brand’s forays into social advocacy. This section also includes the original neon rollerblading costume actor Margot Robbie wore in the 2023 movie, Barbie, as well as other items that explore Barbie’s status as a cultural figurehead.

This Barbie evening bought out all the elegant fashion and design crowd, after all, she may be well over 60 but she will always be a trendsetter.

To find out more about Barbie visit here and Mattel please visit mattel.com

Barbie: The Exhibition opens 5 July 2024 at the Design Museum and runs until 23 February 2025 to find out more visit designmuseum.org here

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