London exhibition looks at Barbie's design evolution over 65 years
A new exhibition looking at the evolution of Barbie opens in London this week as the famed Mattel doll celebrates her 65th birthday this year.
"Barbie: The Exhibition," running at the Design Museum from July 5 to Feb. 23, features more than 250 items from the Barbie universe, including an array of dolls showing her changing appearance, design sketches and dream houses.
On display is a first edition of the first Barbie released in 1959 with blonde hair, angled eyes, dressed in a black-and-white swimsuit, along with later models representing different races, hair textures and shapes.
Other "firsts" include a Black Barbie and one in a wheelchair. One section dedicated to career roles includes a police officer, scientist, doctor, presidents and a voter, while another focuses on Barbie's long-term companion Ken, who was introduced in 1961.
The exhibition coincides with Barbie's 65th birthday this year and follows on the huge success of last year's "Barbie" movie starring Margot Robbie, which grossed $1.4 billion at the global box office.
Video by REUTERS
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A new exhibition looking at the evolution of Barbie opens in London this week as the famed Mattel doll celebrates her 65th birthday this year.
"Barbie: The Exhibition," running at the Design Museum from July 5 to Feb. 23, features more than 250 items from the Barbie universe, including an array of dolls showing her changing appearance, design sketches and dream houses.
On display is a first edition of the first Barbie released in 1959 with blonde hair, angled eyes, dressed in a black-and-white swimsuit, along with later models representing different races, hair textures and shapes.
Other "firsts" include a Black Barbie and one in a wheelchair. One section dedicated to career roles includes a police officer, scientist, doctor, presidents and a voter, while another focuses on Barbie's long-term companion Ken, who was introduced in 1961.
The exhibition coincides with Barbie's 65th birthday this year and follows on the huge success of last year's "Barbie" movie starring Margot Robbie, which grossed $1.4 billion at the global box office.
Video by REUTERS
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Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital
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NewsTranscript
00:00Yes.
00:02Okay.
00:04Hello.
00:06So like now,
00:08where do we go
00:10to the end?
00:12I'm curious.
00:14You're welcome.
00:16You're welcome.
00:18That's
00:20the
00:22front.
00:24I was wondering
00:26if you could
00:28It's a perfect time for this exhibition, actually.
00:39Barbie's resonance in culture has never been larger, more prominent.
00:44We had a cultural phenomenon after the release of the film.
00:48It's very gratifying to see Barbie explored in this way.
00:53No one has ever put on an exhibition that quite goes into the detail around the design
00:57process and the design thinking that goes into the brand.
01:27Yes, so this exhibition is designed by Sam Jacob Studio.
01:55Sam Jacob, of course, is one of our foremost architects and exhibition space designers.
02:02We loved working with him because his aesthetic is so perfectly suited to the Barbie brand.
02:08It's playful, it's colourful, it's post-modern.
02:11We have also worked closely with Mattel themselves to realise the exhibition because it was important
02:18that the design of the show in its totality was an accurate and respectful reflection
02:23of the Barbie brand legacy.
02:25So it's not pink by accident.
02:51And it has been an evolution.
02:53Of course, the original Barbie was exclusively imagined as a thin, white woman.
02:59And over the years, Mattel, I think, have taken steps to rectify that initially quite
03:06narrow definition of what female beauty is.
03:10So I think that in today's world, they are definitely doing a significantly improved
03:15job of producing dolls and presenting those dolls to the public in a way that children
03:23who play with Barbie, whoever they are, wherever they're from, can see something of themselves
03:28in the doll.