Forever 17 in play world, Barbie turned 64 in March.
And both are enjoying newfound fame.
Barbie was already a star when Spencer landed at Mattel in 1963.
Roughly 350,000 dolls sold the first year, and a billion by 2006.
She was adored and scorned.
Gloria Steinem sneered, Barbie is … everything the feminist movement was trying to escape.
The film features at least 15 Barbies with various professions.
Initially, male Mattel executives resisted the idea of an adult doll.
Yet Barbie was an instant hit and remains popular.
Its because she was realistic and changed as we changed.
Barbie was a lifelike-looking teenage fashion model, and people related to her in so many different ways.
I have heard from Barbie fans in countries I didnt know existed.
What waschallenging about designing clothes for an 1112-inch client?
A quarter of an inch can make a tremendous difference.
Getting your eye close to the smaller details was an adjustment.
What was wonderful is, you could sit down.
Your first design was a red and white suit inspired by Jackie Kennedy.
Where else did you look for inspiration?
In the 70s, Melrose Avenue got going.
And the beach at Malibu was close.
I learned from magazines about things like avant-garde and British mod and Mary Quant.
I still have the Peter Max mod fashion issue ofSeventeenmagazine.
I love it to this day.
