Barbie celebrates International Women’s Day with 8 new role model dolls
Mattel is celebrating the 65th anniversary of the first Barbie and International Women’s Day on March 8 by honoring inspiring women from around the world.
The brand chose eight women to receive a one-of-a-kind “Role Model” doll in their likeness, including Viola Davis, Shania Twain, Kylie Minogue and Dame Helen Mirren, who says she is “blown away” by the doll.
Mirren’s doll is wearing a blue dress and has blue hair, which is a nod to her outfit at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The 78-year-old actor says getting a Barbie in her likeness is not something she could have ever imagined.
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“It’s a very special thing, and something I can add to my list of my favorite achievements; becoming a Dame of the British Empire, having an Oscar, having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – and having my own Barbie,” she says in a statement.
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Mattel also created Barbies for Brazilian content creator Maira Gomez, Mexican director, producer and screenwriter Lila Avilés, Japanese model Nicole Fujita and German comedian Enissa Amani.
Davis’ doll represents the U.S., while Twain is from Canada, Mirren is from the U.K. and Minogue is from Australia.
The new dolls are not for sale, but Mattel does have an entire Inspiring Women series that you can purchase.
Just some of the dolls in the collection include Helen Keller, Black journalist and suffragette Ida B. Wells and humanitarian, scientist and activist Jane Goodall.
The latest doll in the series is groundbreaking pilot Bessie Coleman, who was the first Black and Native American female aviator and first Black person to ever earn an international pilot’s license.
Barbie has also released a new 65th-anniversary doll that you can pre-order now, with shipments beginning March 17.
Priced at $60.99, the 65th Anniversary Barbie is wearing a black and white gown meant to pay homage to the swimsuit worn by the original Barbie in 1954.
The doll is also decked out in sparkling “sapphire” earrings and has a high ponytail, blue eyes, red lips and cat eye sunglasses.
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