So white, blonde, super skinny Barbie – complete with a play-kitchen and pink kitten heels – got a bad rep. In recent years, the company’s maintained a commitment to diversifying their dolls, as well as making an effort to promote inspiring women IRL.
Since 2015, their “Shero” dolls series has depicted boundary-breaking women, and this year they’re back with 20 new role models to honour both Barbie’s 60th anniversary, and International Women’s Day tomorrow.
The new collection include’s Gurls Talk founder and supermodel Adwoa Aboah, model, actress and activist Yara Shahihi, tennis player Naomi Osaka and skating star Tessa Virtue.
“For 60 years, Barbie has championed girls, inspired generations to believe through make-believe and showed them that they have choices,” Lisa McKnight, the general manager and senior vice president of Barbie, explained. “With more than 200 careers, six runs for president, and a trip to the moon before Neil Armstrong, Barbie continues to evolve to be a modern, relevant role model for all ages.” The company have also said they’ll donate funds to organisations working to “level the playing field for girls.”
See the full range here.