← Dressed: The History of Fashion
Dressed: The History of Fashion
Barbie: The Fashion History of an Icon, Part III (Dressed Classic)
00:50:34
Loading summary
Transcript90 lines
- [00:01]
April Callahan
Dressed listeners, please enjoy this episode from the Dressed archive of over 500 plus shows. You have been very patient with us and we assure you Dressed will be back with all new content in the form of Season eight very soon. We have so many wonderful things up our sleeves that we cannot wait to share with you, but until then, please consider heading to dressedhistory.com where you will find information regarding our upcoming fashion history tours of Paris and New York, which are both open for registration and selling fast. And while you are there, also consider signing up for our upcoming online course offerings which include what Women Wore to the Revolution coming your way in May. More from Dressed coming your way very soon. The History of Fashion is a production of dressed media. With over 8 billion people in the world, we all have one thing in common. Every day we all get dressed welcome.
- [01:09]
Cassidy Zachary
To Dressed the History of Fashion, a podcast that explores the who, what, when of why we wear. We are fashion historians and your host.
- [01:18]
April Callahan
April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary. Welcome Dress listeners, to Part three and the conclusion of our series on the fashion history of Barbie, who we have clearly established at this point is so much more than just a plastic child's toy and actually so much more than the originally promised two episodes.
- [01:40]
Cassidy Zachary
April why am I not surprised? Just saying so.
- [01:45]
April Callahan
In Barbie's 60 plus years she has become a pop cultural, global and fashion phenomenon who is both a reflection of any given time within which she lives as much as she is a central part of any number of conversations in that time surrounding identity, representation, gender, race, sexuality. And those conversations, of course, continue into the present day.
- [02:07]
Cassidy Zachary
We concluded Tuesday's episode in the 1980s which witnessed Barbie's transition from being a doll wearing fashions inspired by contemporary fashion designers to a dol being dressed by many of those same fashion designers, including Oscar de la Renta, who was the first fashion designer to officially license his name and designs to Barbie, and also Billy Boy, who was the first fashion designer to create a limited edition designer Barbie targeting the adult collector's market.
- [02:36]
April Callahan
And while Billy Boy at the time was reported as the owner of the largest collection of Barbie dolls in the world, he had something like 10,000 Barbies. He was by no means the only one I found. Articles mention adult Barbie collectors as early as 1979 April when some of these collectors caught the attention of the New York Times who felt compelled to comment on this rising trend. And this article is kind of funny. It's called Grown Ups with Barbie Babies and they say more than 2,000 adults are now haunting the garage sales and flea markets looking for the 100 million Barbie family dolls sold over the past 20 years. And the following year, actually in 1980, was the first national Barbie convention, which still continues today, by the way, and is affectionately called barbiecon.
- [03:25]
Cassidy Zachary
Oh, where, where does that, where is that held? Is it held in the same place over here?
- [03:29]
April Callahan
Do you know, I think it's all over, actually. Yeah.
- [03:32]
Cassidy Zachary
Interesting. I wonder if they ever have one in New York City. I'll go. But the 1986 Barbie Convention similarly prompted an article in the Wall Street Journal citing, quote, barbie fetishism among adults is on the rise. Each year, more women and men attend a Barbie convention, sell and swap Barbie hat boxes, Barbie barbecue sets, and Barbie McDonald's uniforms. A Barbie newsletter has nearly 3,000 subscribers. And in Palo Alto, California, Evelyn Burkhalter regularly conducts tours of her Barbie hall of Fame, end quote. And this apparently included not only Barbies, but also clothing and accessories numbering into around 14,000 pieces.
- [04:15]
April Callahan
Wow. So the question is, right? Had the first generation of children who played with Barbie grown up to still love her? Or was there just something about Barbie that appealed to adult collectors tastes? And the answer is both these things and more. So one woman is quoted in this article as saying, quote, people are saying that this is no longer a doll, but a representation of our history. And another woman is quoted as saying, a lot of women see in Barbie what they would like to be, just like her child counterparts. And as we've already established with Billy Boy, collecting was not exclusive to women.
- [04:49]
Cassidy Zachary
But I have a question for you, Cass. You know, we've also established how millions of Barbies had been produced at this point. And collecting, as we know, prizes, rarity and speciality. So what exactly were these Barbie collectors collecting?
- [05:04]
April Callahan
So this is a great question and one addressed this same 1979 article which cites collectors as hunting for flaws in dolls. And you actually see this with other collecting hobbies as well. Like my husband collects baseball cards and like the ones with flaws are highly prized for some reason. Because it's these flaws or accidents or oddities in Barbie's production that makes her unique. Right? And thus more rare. So for instance, in 1979, some Barbie collectors were looking for quote, unquote, mutant members of a Barbie that was produced in 1965. She had side parted, shoulder length, flip style hair. And other highly prized collectors. Items that I read about include everything from, of course, the original number one 1959 Barbie in her original box, to a small Barbie compact, April. To a suitcase for Ken that one collector had been trying to track down for 10 years. So at this time, adult collectors are looking for Barbie, but Barbie, and by Barbie I mean Mattel was not really yet looking for them or at them I should say as a viable market. But that would all change in the 1990s.
- [06:13]
Cassidy Zachary
Despite Billy Boy demonstrating the appeal of adult geared limited edition barbies in 1985, Mattel left the adult collector's market otherwise entirely untapped for five years when in 1990 they hired Bob Mackey to create a limited edition gold Barbie who wore a gown of 5,000 hand sewn sequins and sold for what would be about $300 today. So that's a chunk of change for, for a doll, the Barbie, the Bob Mackie Gold Barbie represents the beginning of a 30 plus year relationship between Mackie and Barbie for which Mackie created 47 different dolls, all embodying his signature blend of high fantasy and high glam that he so famously deployed on all of his star clientele. And you know that there is a Bob Mackie Cher Barbie cast, right? Multiple Cher Bob Mackie Barbies, actually. In fact, the Cher Bob Mackie Barbie was only the first of what would be several Barbie dolls based on Maggie's clients. This includes dolls based on Carol Burnett and also Diana Ross.
- [07:23]
April Callahan
And Mattel finally created a separate collector's division in 1992. And the honor of designing the inaugural collection of this new division was given to the fashion designer. Barbie actually had the longest standing relationship with at this point. And that was of Spencer, who we've mentioned multiple times on the podcast at this point. Carol first joined the in house Barbie fashion design team in 1963, as you probably remember. So this is almost 30 years later and she was still there. And not only was she the Barbie design team's most senior member at this point, she'd also been pitching the idea of a collector's division to her bosses since 1990. And this is because this is the year she attended her first Barbie convention and saw firsthand that there was a huge market for high quality limited edition Barbie dolls.
- [08:09]
Cassidy Zachary
For the premiere doll in the collector's line, Carol says she knew she had to go ultra glamorous. And the result was Benefit Ball Barbie, who debuted in 1992 with a fabulous curly red updo and a one shouldered sapphire and gold floor length gown. And not only was Benefit Ball Barbie the first of this new line of collector dolls, she also featured Carol's name on the back of the box, making Benefit Ball Barbie the first Barbie to feature the name of an in house Barbie design team member. Not as big or as bold as Billy Boys a decade prior. But it was a step forward in bringing well deserved attention to the designers who had long worked behind the scenes to create Barbie fashions at Mattel Benefit Ball Barbie.
- [08:54]
April Callahan
Try saying that six times. Benefit Ball Barbie sold so well that Carol went on a signing tour across the U.S. another first in Barbie history and something that Carol actually organized and promoted herself because apparently Mattel executives were a bit skeptical about this. This was entirely new for them. Would people even care about this aspect of Barbie? But they did not remain skeptical for long dress listeners because this signing tour was a huge success. And Carol describes lines going out the door and even being mobbed by her adoring fans.
- [09:29]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, and I can attest to this because when she spoke at FIT and was signing books, it was the same case.
- [09:36]
April Callahan
That's amazing.
- [09:38]
Cassidy Zachary
In 1994, Carol was asked to design a limited edition Barbie celebrating the doll's 35th anniversary. The result was the Gold Jubilee Barbie, who wore a metallic gold brocade jacket over a gold hand beaded gown with pearl accents. And Carol says the doll was the most expensive ever produced for public sale. But we couldn't find exactly how much she sold for. But more importantly, this represents the first time a designer's signature was not just on the box itself, on the doll herself.
- [10:11]
April Callahan
Yeah, and I just want to say I don't know how much Gold Jubilee Barbie sold for, but I do know that one of the most expensive Barbie dolls ever sold was at auction and it sold for $300,000. So.
- [10:23]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah, yeah, but that's secondary market. I guess I would be curious about what was the most expensive Barbie doll with its original retail price tag.
- [10:31]
April Callahan
Yes, that's a good question. So Carol says of this significant moment of actually having her signature on the doll itself that quote, this felt like a cultural shift within Mattel, an affirmation of an individual designer's contribution to Barbie's success. And Carol really set a precedent here for the visibility of Barbie's in house design team that continues into the present day. And we have access to many of these designers actually thanks to their social media accounts where they often share insights into their work and process says. And they all attend BarbieCon by the way. And Carol really paved the way for that.
- [11:06]
Cassidy Zachary
And it must be said that Carol's contributions to Barbie in the 1990s do not exist only in the exclusive world of luxury limited edition collector stalls. She happens to be the person responsible for the best selling Barbie of all time, marketed not to adults, but to her original and Core audience of children. And of course we are talking about Totally Hair Barbie. Yes, Carol. Carol came up with this concept for the doll who's basically her standout feature was her nearly floor length crimped hair.
- [11:40]
April Callahan
And equally of note, of course is her pattern mini dress. And Carol says, I wanted Barbie's clothes to exude the same sense of fun that her kicky crimped locks would. So I decided to model them on the work of Emilio Pucci, the Italian designer renowned for vibrant graphic prints. And she created this prototype which is so cool for this custom print. By gluing different graphic shapes onto a mini dress, she created so really a hands on designer in so many ways. And then this pattern was then adapted into the now iconic pink, lime green and blue pattern of the dress that caused a sensation. From 1992 to 1995, more than 10 million Totally Hair Barbies were sold April. And I can say that I actually was one of those happy customers. I still very much remember how her hair feels and actually even how she smells.
- [12:34]
Cassidy Zachary
I missed that one those years I was in both high school and college, so there's that. Also a huge moneymaker for Mattel, their adult collectors division, which proved to be the fastest growing part of Mattel's business. In 1995, a New York Times article reported that where in 1993 the collectors division was doing around $35 million in annual sales, two years later, by 1995 that number was over $180 million. Talk about growth. Mattel had even begun directly trying to convert people to collectors by putting ads in places like Parenting magazine that played up the Barbie nostalgia factor. A 1996 ad in Parenting magazine said, over the course of your childhood, you changed your clothes about a million times, introducing Barbie collectibles because you're never too old for Barbie.
- [13:29]
April Callahan
This collection included recreations of Barbie classic designs such as Solo in the Spotlight Barbie from 1960. It also included fantastical creations from Bob Mackie, such as his Goddess of the Sun Barbie. And then there was actually something we haven't really seen before in the context of Barbie and that was fashion historical references in a medieval Barbie and a Rapunzel Barb. And these act dolls actually came to us thanks to Mattel's Great Era series, which was introduced into the Barbie collectors division in 1993 and was intended as a celebration of fashion history's greatest moments and figures, which of course we love.
- [14:04]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes. And in her book, Carol talks about how for the fourth division of the collection, she presented the idea of doing a Marie Antoinette Barbie, which, when I first read this, I got very excited about. I thought that I needed to have it, but apparently that was not. That's not going to be a possibility because the idea was dismissed by Mattel executives who found Marie Antoinette in the period she lived in as being inappropriate, with one executive asking, why would we produce a doll in an era that's all about beheadings? So what did they do instead? Cass, you know where this is going. They went ahead. They did. They did do a historic doll, but they replaced her with a way less, quote, unquote, controversial Barbie. Antebellum Southern Belle. Yeah. Because apparently romanticizing slavery was a lot more acceptable at that time. Wow.
- [14:58]
April Callahan
And actually, I do have some good news for you because they did eventually produce a Marie Antoinette Barbie.
- [15:03]
Cassidy Zachary
Really?
- [15:04]
April Callahan
Oh, yes.
- [15:05]
Cassidy Zachary
Oh, I'm looking that up as soon as we're done recording.
- [15:08]
April Callahan
Yeah, it was really hard for me, actually. Did not just get online and start purchasing Barbies. And this might at some point. So Carol takes us behind the scenes of the creation of another historic figure. And this is the Empress Sissy Barbie, which debuted in 1996. Empress Sissy was created to honor Empress Elizabeth of Austria, nicknamed Sissy, the 19th century royal who was a walking fashion plate. And Carol reveals that she actually went to LACMA to study portraits and dresses owned by the Empress in person.
- [15:42]
Cassidy Zachary
The resulting Empress Sissy doll wears a diaphanous white tulle gown and the wide crinoline silhouette of the 1850s, 1860s, and represents an amalgam of two known surviving dresses that were. That the Empress owned. And Carol's insights in her book are so important because they show us just how much thought and care goes into each and every one of Barbie's designs. So all I have to say is that there is so much fashion and so much fashion history coming from Barbie in 1990s and moving forward.
- [16:17]
April Callahan
Yeah. And it is actually within this adult collectors sphere that we keep talking about where we really start to see more and more collaboration with industry fashion designers outside of Barbie's internal team. And let me just tell you, dress listeners, there have been a lot of designer collaborations over the year, many of which, but not all, we will start to recount for you now.
- [16:40]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah, yeah, y'all might want to stretch for this one, because here we go. In 1995, Barbie partnered with Bloomingdale's department store to produce what would become a series of Barbie dolls celebrating American fashion designers. This is so cool. And many of our listeners may recall from our multiple episodes that we've done that deal with 1990s fashion. These are really pivotal years for American fashion. This is the decade that sees New York solidified as a world fashion center in the 20th century, thanks, in part, the increased visibility of New York Fashion Week and the incredible breadth of talent showing their designs under the tents at Bryant Park. So the first Barbie in this Bloomingdale series was designed by American fashion designer Nicole Miller, and it produced an astounding $1 million in sales, which was one third of what her ready to wear line was generating annually at Bloomingdale.
- [17:36]
April Callahan
Wow. So obviously, this collaboration was incredibly successful. So much so that a second Nicole Barbie was produced the following year in 1996, as well as a Donna Karen Barbie dressed in pieces based on Donna's iconic Seven Easy Pieces collection of 1985. Again, one of those Barbies where I'm like, I should probably try to own this, because this has to be one of my favorite designer Barbies. She's so chic. She has this, like, oversized black beret. She has a black bodysuit with a black wrap skirt. And then she has this giant red cashmere blanket shawl. And this, of course, this looks completed with gold jewelry, this black fake crocodile belt and bag. And then, of course, you have a tiny, tiny Bloomingdale's big brown bag.
- [18:20]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes. Just a reminder that you should shop at Bloomingdale's. This same year, we have Barbies from both Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. The latter is wearing a mat, matching denim jacket, and mini skirt ensemble with a T shirt emblazoned with a CK emblem. The logo. In fact, there are no less than nine Calvin Klein logos on the doll, which is hilarious. Four are spelled out, and four of them are kind of like logo or initials. And a particular note is the fact that CK is emblazoned @ the top of the waistband of Barbie's black cotton underwear, which are peeking out above her skirt. Because we all know what happened in the 1990s with those low slun jeans and low slung waistlines.
- [19:04]
April Callahan
Right.
- [19:04]
Cassidy Zachary
Your. Your underwear were forever peeking out the top. Also interesting in this Barbie is we're seeing designer denim and fashion branding in tandem with each other. And these were such big parts of fashion in the 1990s. And then finally, they made their way to Barbie. Oh, and apparently the Barbie had highlighted hair. And this, her hair highlights were meant to be a tribute to Kate Moss, who is, of course, one of the top models of the era.
- [19:28]
April Callahan
Yes. And in a New York Times article on the doll because she needed to have her own article. Right. Calvin Klein was interviewed and he made it clear that, quote, the doll was not part of an expansion plan aimed at label conscious third graders. But we know April that this would come later. So Calvin apparently agreed to do the partnership because, quote, unquote, Bloomingdale's asked, but also because Bloomingdale's was going to donate some of the proceeds to the Pediatrics AIDS foundation. Of course, AIDS being another unfortunate reality of 1990s fashion and the world at large.
- [20:01]
Cassidy Zachary
And it was not the only fashion fundraiser of its kind to benefit that specific organization. That same year, designers including Isaac Mizrahi, Michael Kors, and Carolina Herrera teamed up with Warner Brothers Studios to create custom designs for one of the studio's most beloved children's characters, Bugs Bunny. With Warner's brothers making donations to the foundations in those specific designers names.
- [20:25]
April Callahan
The Pediatrics AIDS foundation was founded by a woman by the name of Elizabeth Glaser, who contracted the disease in the 1980s through a blood infusion and unknowingly passed it on to both of her children. Throughout the decade, she became an outspoken child's advocate, AIDS activist, and critic of the Reagan administration's abhorrent response to the pandemic that was sweeping the nation. And sadly, Elizabeth died from the disease in 1994, along with millions of others during those tumultuous years, including, as I've said multiple times, I think on the podcast, my own Uncle Jay, who was just 32 years old when he passed away of AIDS in 1987.
- [21:01]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah, so sad. He was such a talented artist too.
- [21:05]
April Callahan
Yes.
- [21:05]
Cassidy Zachary
So AIDS swept through the fashion industry and the art world as well. And it must be said that at first, really, fashion turned its back in a lot of ways on its gay creatives. AIDS had been so quickly stigmatized as a, quote, unquote, gay disease, and so little was known about it that many people chose fear and denial over compassion. But in the 1990s, the industry would join forces to rally around and support the queer community. And you see numerous fundraising events like Suzanne Bartch Love Balls, which began in 1989, and also the Council of Fashion Designers of America's seventh on sale, which started in 1990. And this was created after an unconscionable number of fashion's brightest stars had died.
- [21:50]
April Callahan
Of AIDS, as the CFDA tells us in a 2022 article. Back in the 1980s, AIDS generated at least as much dread and anti science hysteria as Corona, which I guess in 2022 we were calling Covid, as much as Covid has done in the past two years. It was a Then untreatable illness and a fatal one. For fashion despair was compounded by widespread homophobia. A horrible TikTok of death took hold, end quote. And some of these names are more familiar to us today than others, which I am sure is in part due to their untimely deaths and the subsequent loss of their legacy. So, dress listeners, if you hear a name that you don't recognize, maybe do a little bit of research. These people need to be brought back into the light and into fashion history in a more significant way. So the first high profile fashion related death was in 1985 with the loss of fashion designer Chester Weinberg, who at this time was a household name. And this was followed by Perry Ellis in 1986, Willie Smith in 1987, menswear designer Lee Wright, and then an up and coming womenswear designer by the name of Isaiah Rankin in 1980, and then in 1990, we, of course, we've talked about this on the show. We have the death of first Patrick Kelly and then Halston. And the article continues that I was just mentioning that quote. It was, to say the least, a scary time. But raw fear gave way to empathy and courage.
- [23:12]
Cassidy Zachary
Also add to that list people like the illustrator Antonio Lopez and the jewelry designer Tina Chow. So there were so many luminaries of the art and fashion world lost at that time. And this actually does include someone, well, not necessarily part of the fashion world per se, but someone who is very near and dear to the Barbie universe, and that is Ken. And obviously I'm not referring to the doll here, but rather the person after whom his creator, Ruth Handler, named the doll her son Kenneth, who was by all accounts a gay man, even though he was married and did have children. And this was not a terribly uncommon story in history.
- [23:51]
April Callahan
No, no, it's not. And this really makes the release of Mattel's Gay Ken doll the year prior all the more significant. Or is the word point poignant? I'm not entirely sure. And I actually want to thank Diane from our recent dressed fashion history tour of Paris for directing me to Gay Ken, because I had no idea. And to be fair, he wasn't marketed as Gay Ken. He was marketed as Earring Magic Kin. And he certainly wasn't based on the real Ken. Kenneth Handler, whose sexual not known at this time. But for the millions of gay men who reportedly purchased Earring Magic Kin, there was no mistaking a kindred spirit. And we have his wardrobe to thank for it. And maybe a little help from out and proud journalist Dan Savage, who declared in the title of his 1993 article on the topic, Ken Comes Out, Barbie's Boyfriend Sports a Cock Ring. And more on that after a brief sponsor break.
- [24:47]
Cassidy Zachary
Foreign welcome back, dress listeners. You really didn't think that we would be ignoring Barbie's queer fashion history, did you? Pertaining to the article that Cass previously mentioned, Dan Savage interviewed Mattel's Lisa McKendall about Ken's new book, and my guess is that she probably did not know where his line of question was about to go. She told him that the doll was created at the request of a children's focus group who wanted Ken to get a more cool, updated look. And apparently nothing was more cool than a purple faux leather vest, a purple mesh shirt, black jeans, and shoes.
- [25:32]
April Callahan
Yes, but it's actually not his clothes that garnered Dan and other gay men's affections and attention, but rather his jewelry. Or rather, one piece of his jewelry in particular, because in addition to his magic earring, and I believe he just had, the one that earned him his official name, was a silver necklace with a ring which had an uncanny resemblance to a certain aforementioned sex toy. And this is how Earring Magic Kin earned his subsequent Wikipedia page his place on the most controversial Barbie in history lists and his other names. Because Earring Magic Ken will also forever be known as Gay Ken and. Or Cockering Ken.
- [26:11]
Cassidy Zachary
Love this so much. And before you say, how in the hell was Barbie marketing a sex toy doll to children? The answer is they weren't. At least not intentionally. So. Mattel's spokeswoman, Lisa McKendall, rightfully balked at Savage's questions that somehow this was intentional. She said, quote, absolutely not. It's a necklace. It holds charms that he can share with Barbie. Come on. This is a doll designed for little girls. Something like that would be entirely inappropriate. It. And of course it would be agreed. But as Dan so brilliantly points out in his article, Mattel did in fact present children with a gay Ken. They just didn't know that they were doing it. So, as Lisa goes on to tell Dan, quote, ken and Barbie both reflect mainstream society, reflect what little girls see in their world, what they see their dads, brothers, and uncles wearing they want Ken to wear.
- [27:09]
April Callahan
But as Dan so aptly and brilliantly points out, quote, how many dads out there are running around with cock rings dangling from chains around their necks, which he also goes into kind of a history of how this is a staple of gay men's club wear at this time, and how many. He goes on to say, how many mesh shirts does International male sell to the Junes and wards of our great nation. What the little girls were seeing and telling Mattel was cool wasn't what their relations were wearing unless they had hip queer relatives, but the homoerotic fashions and imagery they were seeing on mtv, what they saw Madonna's dancers wearing in her concerts and films. And he points out that queer people and queer culture had become visible on TV and in popular culture in a way that just had not existed previously. Quote, suddenly it's hip to be queer. The little girls of our great nation wanted a hipper kin, and Mattel gave them a hip kin, a queer kin.
- [28:03]
Cassidy Zachary
He continues, quote, queer Ken is the high watermark of, depending on your point of view, either queer infiltration of popular culture or the thoughtless appropriation of queer culture by heterosexuals. Queer imagery has so permeated our culture that from rock stars, think about Axl Rose here and his leather chaps to toy designers, mainstream America isn't even aware when it's adopting queer fashions and mores or when it's putting cock rings, even little plastic ones, into the hands of little girls. Girls. So let that sink in. Right?
- [28:39]
April Callahan
Yes. And I mean, obviously this is a tale as old as time, right? But this article actually blew my mind because Dan is absolutely right. And as he points out, this is not unique to Ken by any means. Queer culture, especially fashion and beauty culture, has been appropriated time and time again, historically, intentionally or not. So much so that Mattel inadvertently marketed a very adult themed doll to children. The doll, of course, was pulled from shelves after six months, but not before reportedly millions of dolls were purchased by an unintentionally targeted and unexpected customer base. And it's actually rumored to be the best selling Barbie of all time. Not that Mattel is ever going to tell us.
- [29:23]
Cassidy Zachary
But were gay men really an unexpected customer base? Let's be honest. While earring magic Ken might have become an accidental gay, iconic Barbie has always been one. There are countless stories of queer children playing with Barbies growing up or dreaming of playing with her, but were prevented from it because of strict societal gender codes.
- [29:45]
April Callahan
And this includes people like Isaac Mizrahi and Yves St Laurent who credit Barbie with peaking their interest in fashion. And they are by no means alone. And these are just two of the numerous queer fashion designers in and out of house at Mattel that have dressed, and continue to dress Barbie into today. And really, today is a period where Barbie and Mattel have emerged as unapologetic vocal allies of the LGBTQ community.
- [30:08]
Cassidy Zachary
And this is not new. It was a relationship that really started to emerge, at least publicly, in the 1990s. In 1998, 1999, limited edition Lifeball Barbie dolls were produced in collaboration with Vivian Westwood and Christian McCroy, respectively, to benefit the Lifeball Foundation, a foundation that funded AIDS research. Other designers to do Lifeball Barbies included Valentino, who in 2005 created a Julia Roberts Barbie commemorating her 2001 Academy Award win. And of course, we all remember that unforgettable black and white Valentino gown that she wore that year. Similarly, Jason Wu created a lifeball Barbie in 2009, and these dolls are covetable collectors items today, fetching thousands of dollars on the resale market. But most importantly, these collaborations supported AIDS research, something that is especially significant in light of the recent announcements of people actually being cured of aids. Cast, this is really inspiring.
- [31:11]
April Callahan
Oh yeah, really inspiring. And so incredible after so many, many decades, right? So speaking of the numerous designers who have designed for Barbie April, we have only begun to cover them. But we cannot move on from the 1990s without addressing some significant moments in Barbie fashion history. And trust listeners, you heard us singing the praises of Alexandra Sampson's recent 1997 fashion Big Bang exhibition. And that also happened to be a big year for Barbie. So 1997 is a year that saw designer Barbies produced in collaboration with Anne Klein, Bill Blass, Vera Wang and Byron Lars. And the press was especially excited about Lars because he actually signed a deal to create not one, but multiple black Barbies. And this is a relationship that would extend until 2011 and result in 16 different Barbies.
- [32:02]
Cassidy Zachary
In a recent video on his Instagram, which is at in earnest official, a clearly emotional Lars reflects on his 15 year partnership with Mattel, including what his dolls meant to the black women who collected them. And the Barbie that he was most proud of. This was his creation of the MB Lee doll, the second in his Treasures of Africa series that he says was, quote, the darkest Barbie doll on record at the time. And he points out that there have since then, of course, other black designers to design for Barbie include Stephen Burrows and most recently, fashion stylist and Emmy winning costume designer Zarina Acres, who produced a series of chic streetwear looks in celebration of Black History Month.
- [32:46]
April Callahan
And while so far this episode we've really been focusing primarily on American designers, Barbie's high fashion wardrobe coming out of the 1990s was not exclusive to them. Because when we say everyone who is anyone designed for Barbie, we mean everyone. Or at least it would appear that way. And in 1995. You also have the first collaboration between the House of Christian Dior, then helmed by Gianfranco Ferre, and Barbie. Barbie wears this like insane beaded brocade evening gown.
- [33:16]
Cassidy Zachary
And Dior collaborated again in 1997, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the House of Dior with a Barbie wearing Dior's iconic bar suit, which is amazing. I have seen these online and it's. They're really terrific.
- [33:30]
April Callahan
And again, add that to the list of Barbies that I want to collect.
- [33:35]
Cassidy Zachary
In 1998, you have Barbies from Oscar de la Renza again and Vera Wang, the first of four Barbies from Wang. And actually just last year, Wang became a Barbie herself as part of Barbie's tribute collection, created to celebrate trailblazing women who have shaped and impacted culture.
- [33:52]
April Callahan
And Barbie celebrated her 40th birthday in 1999. And on this special occasion, the US Postal Service even released a Barbie stamp. And for their part, Mattel feted Barbie with a gala event held in her honor at the Waldorf Ristoria with Dick Clark as the master of ceremonies. And this event even included a live performance by Brandy, who got her own Barbie that year, by the way, with fashions designed by Lavinia Kitty Perkins. And there was also a fashion show that included Barbie's iconic looks over the years worn by live models.
- [34:23]
Cassidy Zachary
And we should mention that present at this particular event was one very important guest to whom Barbie owes her entire existence, Ruth Handler. Yes, friends, Ruth and Mattel had actually mended their relationship a few years prior on the occasion of Barbie's 35th anniversary in 1994. And this was largely in thanks to the company's new CEO, Jill Barad, who recognized Ruth's seismic role in not only Barbie and Mattel's success, but her own. And that is because Ruth really paved the way for women to come into these high power business positions that extended, you know, in Mattel and beyond. And we are so happy to learn Ruth Mattel were able to mend their relationship before she passed away in 2002, a reminder of the mortality of the very real people central to the creation of an arguably immortal doll.
- [35:16]
April Callahan
So before heading into the new millennia, Barbie finally added the profession of fashion designer to her impressive resume in 1998. And this was the same year that the longest standing fashion designer of her clothes, Carol Spencer, retired after 35 years, eight months and 28 days. And in honor of her incredible contribution, Mattel presented Carol with a Barbie in her likeness. And it was an honor done for only one other woman. Before her, and that was Barbie's original fashion designer, Charlotte Johnson.
- [35:46]
Cassidy Zachary
The 1990s is also the period when Bill Greening, Kimberly Colmone and Robert Best were hired into the in house Barbie fashion design team. Robert designed for both Isaac Mizrahi and Donna Karan before starting at Mattel in 1995 and was then followed by Bill, a Barbie collector turned designer, and Kimberly in 1999. And they've moved into different specific roles working with Barbie, but they are all still there at Mattel. They're still working on Barbie, but. But it's still there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They got promotions. I guess that's my long winded way of saying that.
- [36:24]
April Callahan
Yeah. And I mean, I just love that because you really see over these two episodes that people come to design for Barbie and they stay. And that really speaks to a work culture there that has been built around Barbie since day one. Right from Charlotte Johnson to Carol Spencer to Lavinia Black Perkins to Robert Kim and Bill, people come to Barbie Dream House and they never want to leave.
- [36:47]
Cassidy Zachary
It is Robert, Bill and Kimberly and their teams, of course, who are responsible for carrying Barbie's high fashion status into the 21st century, where she only continued to develop her relationship with contemporary fashion designers. Hana Imori kicks off the decade with her Designer Barbie in 2000. And continuing in chronological order, we also see collabs with Burberry, Paul Frank, Versace, Badgley, Mystica, Carolina Herrera, Judith Lever, Cynthia Rowley, Diane Von Furstenberg, of course, modeling one of her iconic wrap dresses in an appropriately Barbie pink version. We also have Zac Posen. Cass and Zach's doll came out in 2006, which is really fun because it is a Zac Posen Barbie and Ken doll featuring Ken. Ken as Zac Posen or Zac Posen as Ken. You also have Barbies from Kimora Lee Simmons and her likeness, as well as a designer Barbie from famed hair magnet Vidal sassoon. And in 2009 you have jingle flowers, Rei Kawakubo, Comme des Garcon Barbie doll and a brightly colored signature Comme des Garcon floral print. So we just want to give a special shout out to blogger Barbie List Holland for breaking down all these fashion designer doll Barbies for us.
- [38:09]
April Callahan
Thank you. And I'm actually going to put a link in our show notes because this is quite an extensive list and she has done it all in chronological order and she has pictures of everything. So. So be ready to have a really fun time doing that. So 2009 is a significant year. Of course, it's actually, Barbie's 50th birthday. And in celebration, Mattel turned to Christian Louboutin for a year long collaboration which would extend to redesigning not only Barbie's wardrobe and her physical features, but of course there would be no Louboutin without Louboutin shoes. Again, one of those things that I just have to collect because they're teeny, tiny little Louboutins in a Louboutin box. It's ridiculously adorable and amazing. And Mattel's then senior Vice President of marketing, Stephanie Kota, told Women's Wear Daily that year that, quote, it was a natural for Barbie, not only with her fashion heritage, but also because of her passion for her shoes. She has a billion shoes and we needed to do something special for her shoe collection. And she actually meant that literally. At this point, it was estimated that 1 billion shoes had been produced for Barbie.
- [39:15]
Cassidy Zachary
Wow. So in celebration for her 50th birthday, Barbie also made her first New York Fashion Week debut, partnering with the CFDA to call upon America's top designers to create custom looks for the doll. Something that we should be very used to at this point in our story. But so something entirely new to the story was Barbie's presence in vogue. 2009 was the same year that Vogue Italia celebrated the history of black Barbie with the first ever black issue. Conceived by Editor in Chief Franco Sozzani, the issue was intended to broadcast a strong message to the fashion industry about the need for diversity, something Barbie herself had made great strides in at this point. And this is just another example of how the relationship between Barbie and fashion goes, goes both ways. She is both reflective of and also influences high fashion and pop culture.
- [40:08]
April Callahan
Ask not what fashion can do for Barbie, but what Barbie can do for fashion. Barbie's impact on fashion and wider culture is undeniable. And in 2014, Barbie expanded that impact by adding social media influencer to her expansive resume with the creation of her Instagram account at Barbie Style, which currently touts 2.4 million followers. By the way, this is also the year that she was on the COVID of Sports Illustrated magazine Swimsuit edition. Just saying. And the same year that Jeremy Scott dedicated his entire spring summer collection for Moschino to Barbie, telling Vogue's Nicole Phelps backstage after the show, like every girl and gay boy, I loved Barbie. It's hard not to. She's practically perfect. And he goes on to say, her and I share the same things. We just want to bring joy to people.
- [41:01]
Cassidy Zachary
But Nicole could not help herself from pointing out something in her article that has plagued Barbie for her entire existence, writing, quote, we could problematize Barbie and her preposterous measurements. And just a side note here, if she were human, she would have about a 36 inch bust, an 18 inch waist and 33 inch hips, which these are pretty impossible proportions. She goes on to say, we could bring up the body image debate that royals around her hotter than ever 55 years after she was invented. But who wants to be the lone sourpuss when everyone else seems to be having such a good time? End quote.
- [41:40]
April Callahan
But something I found really interesting about this article is that it seems to be entirely lost on Nicole. And this is the fact that this same body image debate that she's talking about with Barbie can and should be applied to the very real models on Moschino's Runway. You know, all of these models, while racially diverse, were all thin and thus representative of projecting those same body standards. Barbie has been accused of Fashion like Barbie or Barbie like fashion, has always had a diversity problem in a number of ways because it exists within the world of presenting and shaping societal beauty, which have overwhelmingly been white and thin beauty standards. And that, of course, is something fashion is still grappling with with today and.
- [42:26]
Cassidy Zachary
Something Mattel finally addressed after years of declining sales. And after conducting extensive surveys and market research to determine why, the company finally had to face the fact that this was a real problem for their consumers, who wanted more body diversity in the dolls that their children played with. And that is why, in 2016, a newly voluptuous Barbie made history, gracing the COVID of Time magazine, appearing next to the title question now can we stop talking about my body?
- [42:55]
April Callahan
The answer is no.
- [42:57]
Cassidy Zachary
We're still talking about it right now.
- [42:59]
April Callahan
Yes, but the COVID story came in response to Mattel's dramatic restructuring of the Barbie line and the introduction of three new body types that included curvy, tall and petite for the first time ever in its history. And Mattel's representation rollout does not stop there. Both Barbie and Ken doll now range in different skin tones, hair textures and body size. There are Barbies with hearing aids, prob prosthetics and wheelchairs. And the first Barbie with Down syndrome just debuted this year. As the company website tells us, Mattel is, quote, committed to doing the work to inspire the next generation.
- [43:34]
Cassidy Zachary
This commitment is reflected in Barbie's various collections for adults and children alike that celebrate extraordinary women historically and today, celebrity and non celebrity alike, like the Barbie Sherose Collection, the Dream Gap Project, and the Inspiring Women series, which features inspiring women throughout History and today, including everyone from pandemic nurses and doctors to culture makers and shakers like Jane Goodall, Maya Angelou, Naomi Osaka, and most recently, Chinese American actress Anna May Wong. The groundbreaking female aviator Bessie Coleman. And especially of interest to US fashion history lovers, black beauty magnet Madam C.J. walker. And the Madam C.J. walker doll was in collaboration with Walker's great great granddaughter.
- [44:24]
April Callahan
And this representation extends to the designers working with Barbie both in and outside of Mattel. For both her Barbie celebrating Chinese fashion and heritage, Chinese designer Guo Pei worked with Barbie in house. Designer Joyce Chen, who herself has created numerous Lunar New Year Barbies and has said that I love, love that I can bring a part of my life and culture into Barbie to create more Asian representation. Similarly, Carlisle Nora, the lead designer for the Barbie Signature collections line, who is Filipino American, has also been front and center in bringing more diversity and representation to Barbie. He's designed over a hundred Barbies, including the Mutia Barbie, who was inspired by his mother and their collective Philippine heritage because she's wearing that distinctive Philippine Tiano silhouette.
- [45:09]
Cassidy Zachary
In a recent interview with a journal in the Heart Stories, Carlisle reflected on Barbie's evolving relationship with fashion and representation. He said, quote, barbie has always reflected the times. And in the nine years I've been designing for her, I've been honored to be part of that. As Barbie designers, we pay attention to trends and not just in fashion, but evolution in terms of representation and society too. So in addition to representation, what clothing real people are wearing? Barbie's representing the real people wearing the clothing. End quote. And he goes on to say, every doll that I design comes with this. The idea of diversity, idea of representation. And how can this doll make somebody feel seen and represented all different types of people?
- [45:56]
April Callahan
And that is why plus size model Ashley Graham has a Barbie. That is why groundbreaking trans actress Laverne Cox has a Barbie. I mean, the list really goes on. Representation in front of and behind the seams of Barbie is arguably now a cornerstone of the Barbie brand and something we should absolutely give them credit for. But Barbie is first and foremost a brand and that comes with the good and the bad, especially when it comes to Barbie's carbon footprint. I mean, as we've established on the show, billions upon billions of Barbies and Barbie accessories have been produced at this point, and they show no sign of.
- [46:30]
Cassidy Zachary
Stopping, especially after this movie. Yeah, and. And just like in fashion, we all know the ethics or lack thereof of overseas manufacturing. So it must be said that Barbie Mattel has an answer for that. They do have a goal of 100% recycled, recyclable or bio based plastic materials in both their products and packaging by the year 2030. But that does not account for licensing. What about the millions, if not, not billions of crap products created to hype the recent Barbie film? As I just referenced, they have also started doing partnerships with fast fashion brands like Zara and you all. If you listen to this show, you already know how we feel about that.
- [47:17]
April Callahan
And that takes us right back to where we started this podcast Barbie series. Right April. And that is with our discussion about the Barbie paradox. How could one doll be so, so singularly important and equally problematic? And it is because, as we keep saying time and time again, Barbie is so much more than a child's toy. She transcended that category the very minute she was put out into the world in 1959, when she captured the imagination and fascination of not just the children she was initially marketed to, but their adult counterparts. And Barbie means so many different things to so many different people, and they are as varied as the billions of Barbie incarnations that exist list themselves. And unlike a real life breathing fashion icon, she can actually be all of these things. She can be a fashion icon and a doctor. She can at once be the object of a child's affections and validation. For an adult like Ashley Graham, who never saw a Barbie who looked like her growing up, or for Laverne Cox, who was never allowed to play with.
- [48:17]
Cassidy Zachary
One, Barbie has undeniably made an impact on the world. And the world has made an impact on upon her. She has always been a reflection of the world in which she lives, but most importantly, the children and adults who have projected their dreams onto her. And this was the original intention of Barbie's creator, Ruth Handler, oh so many years ago.
- [48:37]
April Callahan
Yeah, and at the end of the day, I think what matters most, dressed listeners, is what Barbie means to you. And as Carol Spencer tells us in her book, quote, any Barbie fan or collector will tell you that you never really leave Barbie and she never really leaves you. She was my muse for years, but for those who grew up with her or who discovered her later in life, she'll occupy a special place in your heart, no matter how old you get. And that's true for me, and I bet it's true for many of our dress listeners. So on that note, we are finally concluding our series on Barbie before I go on to make this, this an entire podcast in and of itself. And I really hope you enjoyed learning about Barbie's fashion history as much as I enjoyed researching and writing about it. So until next time, dress listeners, may you consider what Barbie means to you next time you get dressed, okay?
- [49:27]
Cassidy Zachary
Remember, we love hearing from you, so if you'd like to write to us, you can do so@hellorusthistory.com or you can also DM us on Instagram at Dressed Podcast, which is of course where you'll find reels and posts accompanying each week's episodes. We get so many questions from you all about our recommendations for fashion history books, so if you're interested you can always find a link in our show Notes to our Bookshop Bookshelf. So that address is bookshop.org shop dressed and there you can find over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles.
- [50:06]
April Callahan
You can also find a link to that in our show Notes where you can find a link to Dressed, which of course is our website where you can check out our latest offerings from the dress universe. That includes our classes and our tours. So head over to DressedHistory.com and see what we have up our sleeves. That does it for us today, dress listeners. Thank you as always for tuning in and more dress coming your way very soon. The history of Fashion is a production of dressed Media.
- [50:35]
C
Your wealth makes you an irresistible target to online criminals. According to Saltis Wealth, 41% of high net worth individuals report having been victims of financial crime. Unfortunately, off the shelf digital security solutions aren't robust enough to protect high profile individuals like you. So what can you do? Rely on Concierge Digital Security from Reputation Defender Concierge Digital Security is not just another app to install, it's a team of experts working in the background background to protect you and your family behind the scenes, Reputation Defender bundles a suite of best in class security solutions covering virtually every aspect of your digital life from digital identity to online privacy, identity fraud, insurance and home device protection. Your concierge helps manage all of these for you. Visit reputationdefender.comsuccess to learn more or schedule your private consultation. That's reputationdefender. Com Success.