What about your special edition Barbies? Will those come in curvy, petite, and tall as well? Or is that set aside for standard Barbie?
I wouldn't say that it's set aside. Now that the gates have opened it's under consideration. There are a lot of factors that go into why we would or wouldn't do it, depending on what the particular line is. But absolutely, within the specialty and collector's space we'll eventually be seeing body diversity.
Do these Barbies have flat feet? Or are they permanently on tippy toes?
They don't have articulated ankles yet, but there are flat feet and high heel options for all three new body types.
__Barbie seems like she's already pretty tall! How tall would tall Barbie be if she were a real person? __
We don't look at dimensions in relation to real people, because the dolls aren't real. They're a stylized interpretation of a person. They aren't meant to be realistic. What we measure is the relationship they have to one another, so that they start to paint a picture of a group of people that could be of the same age range and in the same world.
Besides the new body types, is there anything else that's making an appearance on Barbie for the first time? New hairstyles, or accessories, or silhouettes?
For the first time in 2016 we have a very chic blond doll with a half-shaved head and an undercut. You're going to see those types of details. Barbie will have shorter hairstyles than you've seen before. There are types of clothing that may seem atypical to what people consider the Barbie brand. There may be ethnicities that we haven't expressed previously.
Ooh, can you talk a bit about the new clothing? What makes it so different?
There's a heightened realism and a heightened attention to detail. If you asked someone what a Barbie typically wears they'd say, "a pink, sparkly, frilly dress." We're seeing these dolls in clothes that you'd see at retail targeted to teens and twenty-somethings. You'll see T-shirt dresses and boho-chic Coachella festival looks, as well as earth tones and realistic fabrics and denim. It's not just party dresses and glitter and sparkle. That's not how girls dress. By the way, there's nothing wrong with that! It'll always have a place in the Barbie line, just like it'll always have a place in our wardrobes. But it's not the only thing.
Are there any plans to give Ken a similar treatment? Will there ever be a Dad Bod Ken?
I think all of those explorations are happening as we speak. When they'll appear in the line, I can't say. But I can say that any and all types of expressions of variety within the dolls are being considered by the team for sure.
Out of all the new dolls, do you have a favorite?
They're all like my children! But the things I like the best, out of all that we do, are the things like shorter hairstyles and shaved heads—things that feel slightly edgier. Or things that may make someone stop and say, "I never thought I'd see a Barbie wearing that." If those dolls sell well, that's going to be super exciting. That means it's part of our legacy as a team. It's not about sameness anymore, and that's an exciting thing.
