Barbie’s 65? She doesn’t look a day older than 18!
But the world-famous doll, created by Mattel in 1959, is indeed inching toward seven decades, and riding a new wave of popularity with the billion-dollar success of the movie starring Margot Robbie.
In Pasay City on Sunday, youngsters enjoyed dressing up the Barbie dolls at a design exhibit of various dolls. The Barbie universe’s evolution was on show, including the playsets, vehicles, houses and other accessories that have been used to design the world in which the doll exists.
Indeed, one place where Barbie’s influence is undeniably justified is in the world of design and fashion — so says the curator of “Barbie:
The Exhibition,” a new London showcase of items from the pink and plastic world first manufactured by Mattel.
The exhibition, which opens on July 5, will explore Barbie’s changing appearance in relation to evolving cultural shifts around diversity and representation, according to a report in The Guardian.
The Design Museum exhibit will feature more than 180 dolls including the rare first edition known as “Number 1 Barbie”. There will be examples of the first black, Hispanic and Asian dolls to bear the
Barbie name. The first Barbie with Down’s syndrome, the first using a wheelchair, and one designed with a “curvy” body shape will also be included.