Barbie turns 60 and she’s inspired girls since 1959

Barbie turns 60 and she’s inspired girls since 1959 https://ift.tt/2tquErD Barbie turns 60 on Friday, and the Mattel fashion icon isn’t nearing retirement, however: She’s being strategically reinvented to reflect today’s increasingly diverse world.Thin, blonde, white Barbie is on her way out. Physically and racially diverse Barbie dolls are in. And, accompanied by messaging that promotes progressive values, the diverse dolls are poised to become central to the brand’s image.“When you say ‘Barbie’ to someone, a very clear image of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, slim doll comes to mind,” said Barbie’s vice president of design, Kim Culmone, in a 2016 interview with. “In a few years, this will no longer be the case.”As those who frequent the toy aisle should have noticed, this change is already underway, and recent changes to the brand tell us about its future.And despite fierce competition in the toy industry, 58 million Barbies are sold each year in more than 150 countries.Mattel has more than 100 people working in the El Segundo design studio, a massive hangar-like building wedged between Los Angeles International Airport and a freeway.Designers begin with a simple sketch. From there on, every bit of a prototype is made by an army of experts — from sculpting the doll using state-of-the-art software and 3D printing to painting the face, styling the hair, choosing fabrics and crafting the clothing patterns.The entire design process for a new Barbie can last 12 to 18 months. Then, the prototype is sent from the California workshop to factories in China and Indonesia for mass production.

March 08, 2019 at 10:32AM