At age 50, Barbie is no longer what you would call a spring chicken. But she's still trying her hardest to stay hip.
To celebrate the five-decade mark, Mattel announced on Monday that it is launching a logistical operation to stuff the next year with parties, partnerships and products talking up the iconic doll.
"There's never been a brand like Barbie," said Richard Dickson, senior vice president of the brand. "This anniversary gave us a moment in time to unite all our pre-existing relationships and more with an epic marketing platform that truly will be unprecedented for us and the toy world. The 50th will be the trophy year."
Among the kickoff events, El Segundo, California-based Mattel is compiling a list of more than 50 top designers, including Diane von Furstenberg, Anna Sui and Vera Wang, who will present the first Barbie runway show at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York on Valentine's Day.
On March 9, event planner Colin Cowie is throwing Barbie a pink-splashed Malibu Dream House party at an actual beachfront residence decorated by interior designer Jonathan Adler. DJ AM is set to spin music for a roster flush with famous friends such as supermodel Heidi Klum.
The 0.29 metres tall doll for years held an almost freakish grip on the imaginations and aspirations of young girls across the world and provided endless fodder for sociologists and artists.
Which is why the brand is opening its first flagship store in March with a six-storey "retail-tainment" store in Shanghai, China, that also features dining options and a spa. The National Barbie Doll Collector's Convention in Washington, DC, from July 7 to 11 is already sold out.
Along with exhibits and boutiques at Parisian store Colette and New York's Bloomingdale's, Barbie will be showing up on or inspiring specialised cell phones, luxury jewellery, stationery, candles, cosmetics from Stila, hair dryers from T3, candy bars from Dylan's and decor pieces from Jonathan Adler. A coffee table book chronicling the history and fashion of the doll, The Barbie Book by Assouline, is going for $500 (Dh 2,359), while Bloomingdale's will display 1.83 metres two mannequins designed by Rootstein. So the next step would be a movie, right?
Mattel's Dickson had this to say: "We are navigating that opportunity very carefully and am very interested in bringing Barbie to the big screen when we feel appropriate."
For now, the Barbie squad seems content to invade the web. At age 50, Barbie will also officially be on Facebook.
Did you know?
- Barbie has evolved through thousands of incarnations and 110 careers
- One average, three Barbies are sold each second
- Barbie has worn the outfits of the great designers such as Dior, Ralph Lauren, Armani, Versace and many others, and has seen a career of almost 50 years of dramatic social, cultural and polictical changes.
