This Deepavali, Barbie dons Anita Dongre

The Barbie Signature Diwali doll
| Picture Credit score: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

There’s a new Barbie on the town and he or she is all set for Deepavali. A collaboration between Mattel (a multinational toy and leisure firm) and Indian designer Anita Dongre, that is the first-ever Barbie Signature Diwali doll. The doll is garbed in a Moonlight-Bloom lehenga – a departure from the pink that Barbie is often related to – and has floral motifs like jasmine, lotus, and dahlia..

That is the most recent addition to Mattel’s numerous line of Barbie dolls. And this collaboration tries to “merge the Indian cultural heritage with Barbie’s international affect”. This 12 months marks the sixty fifth anniversary of the long-lasting doll, which, via its varied avatars and storytelling, encourages kids to discover their potential and see themselves within the Barbies they play with.

Anita Dongre engaged on the doll
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“When Mattel approached me to collaborate on creating the Barbie Diwali doll, I used to be clearly thrilled with the chance to showcase India on a world scale,” says Anita. Mattel received in contact together with her 18 months in the past, and it took a 12 months to make the doll. ”Barbie, for me, represents greater than only a doll. Similar to my model goes past style and focusses on empowering girls . We now have a typical aim, to encourage girls to dream large, to reside out their fullest potential and break boundaries. Actually, I’m honoured to collaborate with a model that encourages girls to chase their ambitions so unapologetically,” provides Anita.

Designing a doll is totally totally different from what the designer often creates, so it got here with its personal challenges. “Nevertheless it was additionally a enjoyable course of,” says Anita, including, “The dimensions is small. We sketched numerous silhouettes and I couldn’t make up my thoughts on what I needed till I lastly picked the Rajasthan-inspired blue choli prime, floral koti vest, the lehenga skirt and the equipment in gold. I needed it to be a up to date design, and signify a cool fashionable style ahead India that I see within the girls round me immediately.”

Created to honour the spirit of the competition of lights, the Diwali Barbie can be accessible globally. “It’s meant to be a particular collector’s merchandise and can be accessible at prime toy retailers offline and on-line,” provides Anita, who is happy to see how it will likely be acquired. 

Priced at ₹1,999.