Barbie, the number-one fashion doll in the world, can add another notch to her skinny-waisted belt.
The doll, which celebrated its 60th birthday this year, will receive the Board of Directors’ Tribute award at the 2019 CFDA Fashion Awards. She is joining such past honorees as First Lady Michelle Obama, Tom Ford, Gloria Steinem, Janelle Monáe, Cecile Richards and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
Barbie has collaborated with more than 75 designers and influencers, including Gigi Hadid and Jeremy Scott for Moschino. The brand’s first designer partnership was with Oscar de la Renta in 1985. Barbie also collaborated with Bob Mackie, who will be awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s ceremony, on a collector doll series in 1990. In fact, Mackie began the Designer Collector series for Mattel and created more than 45 Barbie Collector Dolls for the brand.
Vera Wang, Diane von Furstenberg, Anna Sui, Zac Posen, Badgley Mischka and Stephen Burrows are among the CFDA members who have created special dolls with Barbie.
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“Barbie has had such wide influence on American fashion and culture,” said Steven Kolb, president and chief executive officer of the CFDA. “Her story personally resonates with so many CFDA members that the board of directors decided to honor her with the special tribute.”
Richard Dickson, president and chief operating officer of Mattel, said, “It is a tremendous honor for Barbie to be recognized by the CFDA board of directors for her contributions to American fashion. For the past six decades, Barbie has inspired and been inspired by fashion and creative communities. Barbie has had the great privilege of collaborating with some of the greatest designers of our time, and this award is a moment to celebrate her lasting influence.”
During the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” the Met Store’s limited-edition Moschino Barbie doll, of which 500 units were produced at $75 apiece, sold out in less than four hours, as reported.
Barbie’s creator and Mattel’s president Ruth Handler created the doll to allow girls, like her then-young daughter, Barbara, to play out their dreams. The first mass-marketed doll not to be a baby or young girl, Barbie made her debut at the New York Toy Fair in 1959. Handler once explained, “My whole philosophy of Barbie was that, through the doll, the little girl could be anything that she wanted to be. Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices.”
Over the years, Barbie has had 200 professions, from astronaut and firefighter to scientist, nurse and airline pilot.
The CFDA Fashion Awards take place June 3 at the Brooklyn Museum. The official sponsors include Lifewtr, American Airlines, Ecco Domani, Econyl x ege, Lyft, Maestro Dobel Tequila, Perrier- Jouet and The Standard.