The world’s most famous doll has just turned 65 and, in honour of her birthday, London’s The Design Museum in Kensington High Street is dedicating an all-encompassing exhibition that looks at her design evolution.
Titled Barbie®: The Exhibition, the show traces the design story of the Ruth Handler creation, from its very beginnings, with an original 1959 Barbie, all the way to the box office-hit 2023 film. While the exhibition is indeed a visual spectacle, with over 250 items like dolls, clothes, accessories, and even costumes from the film on display, the main idea behind the show is to explore Barbie’s impact on society and girlhood.
It do so by exploring how the shift in her stare in 1971—from sideways glance to straight-forward gaze—changed people’s perception of the doll, how the first Black Barbies in the 1990s created ripples in the industry and society at large, how the introduction of Ken changed Barbie’s narrative, and why today’s Barbies, which exist in a variety of body shapes, heights, abilities, and skin colours, affect those that play with them most.
Apart from that, however, Barbie®: The Exhibition also takes a deep dive into the more physical traits of the doll, from the way the hair is sewn in to how fashion sketches determine her latest designer wear.
The exhibition is on until February 23, 2025. Tickets can be purchased directly from The Design Museum’s official site and start from approximately €17.
