Barbie has been wearing heels for 56 years straight. Her feet have got to hurt. Good news for her: Those tiny feet are finally getting a break thanks to a new design that will allow her to wear ballet flats for the first time ever.
As Adrienne Appell, toy trend specialist for the Toy Industry Association, explained to ABC News, “The regular feet on the Barbie—she could wear flats, but they wouldn’t lie flat. Now, she has an adjustable ankle that allows her to wear flats.” Prior to making over the Barbie Fashionistas collection, Mattel’s original design, Barbie was positioned upright on her tippy toes, only allowing a stiletto to fully touch the ground while she “walked.”
Yes the flat shoes are great news for Barbie’s wardrobe, but the actual big news here is the new line of multicultural dolls. According to Appell, in addition to the doll’s newly movable feet, Barbie Fashionistas will now feature different facial sculpts, eye colors and a number of different hair colors and styles. Freaking finally.
“She isn’t just blonde with three different skin tones,” Appell explained. “It’s really an array that’s more custom, and it’s important because we live in a multicultural world (editor’s note: duh). Girls like to find dolls that look like them, or their friends (editor’s note: again, DUH). Now it’ll be easier for them to identify.”
Mattel released this statement to ABC News:
“The Barbie Fashionistas line was designed to represent the world girls see around them. With 23 dolls that feature 14 different facial sculpts, eight skin tones, 18 eye colors, and 23 hair colors with fashions reflecting authentic street style. This line represents a continued evolution of the Barbie brand.”
Though it seems absurd that Mattel is just now making multicultural Barbies available, I have to admit I’m a little tempted to go out and buy a small-eyed Latina Barbie who can rock some killer sneakers just like me.
Images via brandchannel and ABC News
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