Mattel Reveals New Barbie In Different Shapes And Sizes: Tall, Petite, Curvy

‘For more than 55 years, Barbie has been a global, cultural icon and a source of inspiration and imagination to millions of girls around the world, ‘ said Richard Dickson, president and chief operating officer of Mattel. They’ll all be called Barbie, but it’s the curvy one-with meat on her thighs and a protruding tummy and behind-that marks the most startling change to the most infamous body in the world.

On Thursday, it launched the 2016 Barbie “Fashionistas” dolls, calling it the “evolution” of the beloved toy, although its original body will still be available.

An Instagram user wrote: “As a little girl I ALWAYS wanted to look like Barbie, my parents showered me with love and told me I was lovely but my beauty didn’t reflect my beloved Barbie’s”. Mattel announced the expansion of its Fashionistas line, which will offer more skin tone, hair style and outfit options.

Last year, the toy company released 23 new dolls with differing skin tones and hair types, as well as a flat foot as opposed to previous dolls, which had arched feet for fitting into plastic high heels.

The blonde blue-eyed doll is fast losing popularity, with manufacturer Mattel recording a 14% drop in profits past year alone.

Robert Best, senior director of Barbie Product Design, said the changes address such concerns in a positive way. American Girl Dolls have continued to grow in popularity as more young children create dolls in their image with the “Truly Me” collection, promising “a unique friend for every girl”.

However, true to life, Mattel warned that “not all clothes will fit all dolls”.

Barbie isn’t the first doll to adapt a more realistic look.

Barbie’s new look includes TK dolls. Today, as a dean at Duke University, Brownell said the new Barbie “represents real progress, not only by having additional skin tones but by beginning to correct the wildly unrealistic body shapes and sizes of earlier days”.