Barbie, not just a doll: the eternal style of an icon

ANDra the 1959 when Pierre Cardinwith a collection on sale at the Printemps department store in Paris, launched that “ready fashion” which has become famous worldwide as a prêt-à-porter. Up to that point, dozens of excellent seamstresses had worked on garments made only and strictly to measure: and so for many customers the dress understood as an object of couture began to change. For many, but not for all.

That same yeartraveling overseas, in fact, a woman was born for whom haute couture would never end.

In its 29 centimeters culminating in a high ponytail, with a waist that would have made Scarlett O’Hara envious, the March 9 Barbie® took her first, sideways glance at the world from the New York Toy Fair wearing a black-and-white bathing suit that went down in history.

Barbie, the wardrobe of an icon

An icon intended for get dressed forever by a bevy of over 100 experts. As feminine as allowed in the legendary Fifties for a (not yet) girls’ game, with sunglasses, sandals and golden earrings, the slender Barbara Millicent Roberts would have conquered more than 70 myths of the history of fashion: many designers who have offered her a new wardrobe over the yearsmade from 980 million meters of fabric.

Unbeatable down to the shoes: over a billion. In short, Barbie has defeated any rival in style. You will admire that beach look in the flesh from July 20 in the highly anticipated, homonymous film Barbie worn by the most breathtaking blonde in cinema, Margot Robbie.

But did you know that dazzling hair was immediately proposed also in a brunette version? A great coup, for those who have always seen in Barbara the sophisticated charm of a Marilyn Monroe-esque star. The fact is that if “Barbiecore”, the Barbie trend, was the most viral in fashion of 2022, the hashtag #Barbiecore has been viewed a whopping 137 million times on social media.

The birth of a legend

After founding Mattel Creations in 1945 with husband Elliot, a Ruth Handler the inspiration for Barbie came from looking at her daughter (not surprisingly, Barbara) having fun with paper dolls, to invent stories of adults and teenagers in the most varied roles. Ruth immediately understood how empathizing with different careers, activities and passions would have been an important step for their growthcompared to the classic baby-doll.

And to do so he relied on a three-dimensional doll by activating an innovative promotionthanks to a stroke of genius in 1955: that year, in television, Mattel had made a revolution by advertising toys not to adults, but directly addressing children.

When the first Barbie was sold for three dollars, Ruth kept the price down with one clear idea: to create a miniature mannequin, whose wardrobe would conquer millions of little girls. As narrated by MG Lord in Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll, girls would think they were dressing up their future selves.

Did clothes and accessories hold enormous economic potential? Finding a fashion queen was necessary. That person materialized in Charlotte Johnson, a stylist with whom Ruth immediately began to think about the perfect wardrobe. The understanding was immediate, and so Charlotte flew to Tokyo to supervise theinvention of the first foolproof looks. He stayed there for two years, creating garments modeled with pins on dolls that were made by Japanese labor for years.

An important anatomical part were the hands: to prevent the clothes from getting caught between the fingers, slowing down the fundamental dressing, Charlotte is said to have posed to show how to shape them, handing down her own extremities to posterity.

Each little girl then had to have fun combing her Barbiefor this the strands of hair had to be not glued, but fixed directly to the head (it is no coincidence that the best-selling Barbie in the world today remains the Totally Hair Nineties, with ringlets almost down to the feet). More than 300,000 little Barbaras were purchased in 1959, over a billion in total.

And of course many more dresses, making Barbie a sales record in women’s collections. After all, what do the measurements count in front of the precision with which Charlotte dedicated herself to inventing perfect shapes for the spirit of the time, regularly flying to Paris shows to catch the latest trends? A true forerunner, thinking of looks created 18 months before the sale.

As explained by Rhonda Garelick, professor of art and design history at Parsons School in New York, Barbie was a fundamental bridge between fashion and generations of little girls who, with her, experienced the realities of splendid garments first-hand. In the 22 years that Charlotte worked with Mattel, Barbie achieved the elegance of a First Lady, the impeccable look of a fashion designer and the extravagance of the first hippies. Only in the Seventies did his gaze begin to point “straight into the camera”, refined by legions of professionals who still adapt his expressions (and his seven complexions, made up by 15 artists with tiny brushes) to hand-drawn looks, modeled on micro mannequins.

The accessories? Sculpted in wax to create 3D prototypes. Finishing with a styling of ringlets fixed by “Dolly”, a special sewing machine, cut by professionals and treated with the heat of a real hairdressing helmet. But above all, Barbie has made every dream of hers come true: of hers and of any woman. With over 180 careers under his belt, he travels to space in 1965, four years before man walked on the moon. You have run for president six times since 1992, you became a company manager in 1985, in 1989 you enlisted in the Armed Forces a year before the start of the Gulf War: for the impeccable reproduction of your military uniform it was necessary to request Pentagon approval.

Unstoppable spirit

«Barbie has been the symbol of the woman who can choose. Even in the early years, she didn’t have to settle for being Ken’s girlfriend or a shopaholic—she had suits for careers as a nurse, flight attendant, or singer. I think her choices have been decisive for the success achieved not only with the daughters who would one day become the first female managers, but also with their mothers» will say its famous creator, Ruth Handler.

Yeah, but his unforgettable relationship? In 1961 Barbie gets engaged to Ken… and in 2004, after more than 43 years together, the most famous doll couple in Hollywood takes a break (remaining, it is said, on excellent terms). An independence clearly declared today in the posters of the same film: «She can be anything she wants. He’s just Ken».

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