Barbie turn 50, hits New York Fashion Week and then Paris!

At New York’s Fashion week Barbie invited fashion’s finest and the little ladies in their lives to a chic fashion show in celebration of her 50th Birthday. Though it seems she hasn’t aged at all, 50 designers created unique looks for the timeless icon. Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Kenneth Cole, Marchesa, Diane von Furstenberg, Alexander Wang, Derek Lam, Badgley Mischka and Catherine Malandrino, many of whom have collaborated with Mattel on outfits in the past, were among those whose looks hit the runway on live bombshells. “I had a Barbie before I had a G.I. Joe,” noted Wang. Malandrino, who sat front row, was elated to see her flag dress hit the pink runway. “The flag is the ultimate dress for the most famous American icon,” she said. “Barbie is a glamour icon with an endless wardrobe, a dream house and lots of cute friends. What’s not to love?,” asked Peter Som.

The finale left the audience overjoyed as adorable little girls, including Kimora Lee Simmons’ daughters Ming and Aoki, escorted the models in big colorful tutus and Barbie tanks as heart shaped confetti fell from the sky. Ken even left guests with a Valentine on their seats. Isn’t he a doll? It seems Barbie is this season’s must have accessory. Now if only a pink corvette were waiting outside to whisk us away! ~Nola Weinstein

Barbie Goes to Fashion Week
By Intern Katy, 9:45 AM on Tue Dec 23 2008, 2,409 views

Designer Jeremy Scott has announced that he plans to send a Barbie-inspired collection down the Paris Fashion Week runways this spring.

Scott’s line is set to debut March 12th at Colette, and will be available to Americans in the middle of February. The iconic plastic doll is also having an entire fashion show dedicated to her in New York, which Jeremy Scott is contributing to. And! Mattel just announced their sponsorship of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York. If the fashion trickle-down theory is correct, it looks like we will all be wearing hot pink dresses with matching heels next year.

Ken Lagerfeld and Barbie at Colette
Mar 04, 2009 @ 9:43am

If you were wondering exactly how Barbie fever would hit Paris Fashion Week (other than the parties), wonder no more:
Starting March 9th through March 28th, the windows of Colette will be an homage to Barbie and Ken, as designed by Karl Lagerfeld.

Ken will be played by model Baptiste Giabiconi, and Barbie wears everything from a poufy wedding gown to a cocktail dress to a Chanel suit.

Obviously.

But Barbie has decided not to roll over and rely on beating Bratz in court. On Barbie’s 50 birthday, Mattel opened up a $30 million, six-story Barbie lifestyle store in Shanghai–complete with a spa where mothers can get their nails done with their daughters, a café and bar and racks of Barbie clothing. Additionally, Barbie has developed her own cosmetics line labeled Plastic Smooth.

Not only is Barbie moving into a new region where girls don’t really know who she is, but Mattel is expanding its core market to include not only little girls but also club-age young women. Rather than rely wholly on children or mothers who grew up playing with the dolls, Mattel is also targeting twenty-somethings by offering a line of clothing by Patricia Fields, the Sex and the City designer.

For younger girls, the store offers a catwalk on which they can model Barbie-esque clothes and assistants to teach them how to sing and dance to the Barbie Girl song.

The man who has spearheaded the project for Mattel, Richard Dickson, says his favourite feature is the Pink Tunnel, a neon-lit escalator that hums with the recorded sound of giggling girls.

The store boasts a cafe and a bar called the Pink Room, complete with karaoke, a DJ and pink martinis. “Barbies want to talk to Kens — you have to have a place for that,” says food manager Hayes Zhou.

For older women, Mattel has commissioned New York-based fashion designer Vera Wang to come up with a $A22,000 wedding dress. This is not the first time we have seen women gravitate towards childhood favorite characters for weddings. Disney launched their Princess wedding dress collection a few years ago with dresses modeled after gowns worn by Disney Princess such as Aurora, Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel.

The idea: Barbie is no longer just a doll. She’s a lifestyle. That may be harder for Americans to accept since our image of her is so firmly ingrained. In China, she is a newcomer unburdened by generations of familiarity, and Mattel has a chance to create a new consumer perception of what she means.

The Barbie Store idea is a combination of American Girl PlaceClub Libby Lu. Instead of tea parties you get facials, and Hannah Montana is replaced by Barbie. Although these two stores tend to appeal more to the pre-teen/tween age groups and Barbie Store is targeting 20 somethings as well with their spa, cocktails and fashion.

It remains to be seen whether Chinese consumers will warm to the idea and whether Barbie can fit in there. What kind of food does Barbie eat in her cafe? What kind of food would she eat in China? But Mattel should be given credit for innovating and taking a calculated risk in a down market.