Plaster of Paris
Okay, okay. This entry is a tad girly (hello, dolls?!). I know, you’re thinking, “what the hell” right? But look past the fact that it’s about a doll and a world famous shoe designer and you’ll see that this is a fantastic marketing endeavor. Last year as part of the 50th anniversary of Barbie (yup, expect more from Barbie’s mid-life crisis) Mattel has collaborated with the Paris based shoe maestro Christian Louoboutin (if you haven’t heard of him, your girlfriend or sister probably has) to act as her yearlong “godfather.“ Not only did he create a Barbie inspired shoe collection, but he also tweaked certain physical attributes of the iconic doll to better fit the high fashion world (he proclaimed that her ankles were “too fat” and her feet needed to be “more curvy”).
”Barbie has a long history of working with various designers and artists who use Barbie as a muse,” said Stephanie Cota, senior vice president of marketing of Barbie brands at Mattel. “It was a natural for Barbie, not only with her fashion heritage, but also because of her passion for shoes. She has a billion shoes and we needed to do something special for her shoe collection.”
Released just last month to accompany this make-over is Barbie’s diary “My Year in Paris with Christian Louboutin” are photos and scenes of Louboutin and his plastic muse around the city of lights in a wide array of stylized situations including shopping in a Louboutin boutique, a day as a Parisian burlesque dancer, a high fashion shoot, and a sexy jewel heist.
Perhaps if Barbie looked this damn hot in our childhood days more boys would’ve played with her.
2 Comments on this post. Add your own comment below
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Shoes? I like the jewelry these Barbies are wearing, too.
I also like the way Barbie has “equal” status with the designer in the sense that she isn’t a miniature doll but a “person” within the same scale of the designer. Excellent, mutual branding.
(I never heard of Christian Louboutin <i>before</i> this collaboration.)
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L.A. Consing Lopez
Style Editor
interesting collab ... while there really isnt anything new with dressing up the world famous doll, the real revelation here is christian himself - gamely posing in animated, almost satirical shots - breaking out of the high strung mould easily associated with luxury brands and designers making for a relatable and humorous campaign. all in good taste of course.