In 2025, the Barry Art Museum will open a brand-new exhibit of the world’s most famous doll: Barbie. Focusing on her history as a design icon, this show will investigate the people and processes behind Barbie and her wardrobe. Few fashion dolls have had as significant an impact on the world as Barbie.
Developed by Ruth Handler for Mattel and debuting in 1959, Barbie represented both a continuation of the fashion doll tradition and a transformation of it. Like the dolls of Adelaide Huret or Madame Alexander, Barbie represented a fashionable teenager, but the massive scope of her production (enabled through new, affordable materials such as plastic) allowed her to reach a significantly larger audience. Through savvy marketing, affordability, diverse wardrobes and accessories that appealed to a variety of interests, Barbie quickly became a cherished part of many childhoods.
The objects in this exhibition delve into Barbie’s design history, while the exhibition layout will further explore Barbie’s brand by invoking her modern aesthetic. Working with ODU’s theater department and local artists, the Museum will bring Barbie’s distinctive style to life through an homage to the interiors of her various dreamhouses. This will be an immersive installation that charts Barbie’s changing style across the decades.
