Creating the Barbie Signature Miley Cyrus Collectible Doll, the latest addition to Mattel Inc’s Signature Series, was anything but child’s play. Armed with meticulous measurements, colour swatches and an encyclopaedic knowledge of their muse, stylist Bradley Kenneth, makeup artist James Kaliardos and hairstylist Bob Recine reveal how they transformed a pop icon into plastic perfection.

A stylist, a makeup artist and a hairstylist walk into the Mattel Inc. building. And no, it’s not the start of a bad joke. For Miley Cyrus’ glam team, it felt more like a dream. At the time, Greta Gerwig’s 2023 film Barbie was still making the rounds across global screens – the atmosphere at HQ electric as a result. Barbie fanatics wandered the campus, snapping shots of the pink convertibles cruising the asphalt. Bradley Kenneth, James Kaliardos and Bob Recine were no different. James recalls a high from the visit so vibrant, no substance could replicate it. They circled the building, taking a selfie in front of its infamous pink elevator. But the punchline? They were invited inside it, heading straight to the top.

As soon as they stepped behind the curtain, something strange happened. To them, Barbie was an icon: untouchable, quintessential, all-encompassing. But as they passed rooms filled with a multitude of hand-painted faces, millions of strands of technicolour hair and swatches of fabric with a world of texture, they understood: Barbie can’t be Barbie without her team. It was a eureka moment that arrived quicker than it might for most. After all, they work for Miley Cyrus. And if Barbie set the blueprint for reinvention, Miley, for them, proves the apt muse.

For years, the dynamic trio have watched MC, as they call her, mould and transform. Colouring her hair from golden locks to a jellyfish cut, swapping sensual styling for femme fatale glamour, ditching glittered gloss for a smoky eye. Just like Barbie, she’s impossible to pack into one box, though they were willing to try.

Yet when tasked with miniaturising a chameleon to a single doll, the process proved easier than anticipated. Their meeting with Mattel Inc’s execs coincided with the making of her latest album, Something Beautiful, which Miley was co-producing and co-directing at the time. The 2025 album marked a self-renewal for MC, enriched with genre-bending soundscapes and lyricism that dripped with empowerment. It’s where Miley felt most like Miley: in a faux-leather two-piece pant set, hooded jacket, microphone in hand, wind-machined and all.

So when it came to creating the Barbie Signature Miley Cyrus Collectible Doll that could stand the test of time, they looked no further than her moment in the album’s eighth track, “Golden Burning Sun”. Armed with the exact Alaïa lookBradley styled, the measurements of the face James painted, and the colour swatches of hair Bob dyed for the film, they immortalised Miley at her most realised self. Or, according to Bob, “the best Barbie [he’s] ever seen.”

Before the final product made its highly anticipated debut on 30th June, the powerhouse behind it reunites to reflect on the process: the highlights, the challenges, the details fans might have missed. Above all else, they prove that Barbie was right all along. Life in plastic? Truly fantastic.

James Kaliardos: Bradley…How the hell are you?

Bradley Kenneth: Beautiful, sexy and fabulous.

Bob Recine: Don’t ask me that same question.

JK: We all need a catch-up…So who’s going to start this thing off?

BR: Well, I can start it off in a kind of interesting way. When we created the Barbie for MC, we were all working very closely with her at the time. That Barbie is a product of what we were doing together and collaborating on with her, so it feels like a really important reflection of that process in the final result. Miley is the most amazing chameleon ever, and now she’s another version of that self. I think with all Barbies, there’s that moment in time people look at as iconic, or their high point, or their best-self kind of thing. So it’s an interesting place to start because, at least for me, that’s what I was working from in my part in creating this doll.

BK: I love that, Bob! But I also have to say that when Miley was choosing which look to go for, she had free rein to do whatever she wanted. It could be a look from her past. It could be a look she’s never worn. We could have come up with anything we wanted, or she wanted. I think she chose this look from “Golden Burning Sun” because it represented pieces of her that were from her past and pieces of her that will be part of her future. It represents an all-encompassing Miley in the best way possible, because leather has always been part of her visual identity and so has Alaïa; she’s been buying Alaïa for herself since she was 15-years-old. So I think she wanted the fans to feel like you’re getting the all-encompassing Miley. That’s not going to be, in five years from now, someone completely different from who she is.

JK: Yeah, she wanted it to be part of our Something Beautiful moment, her “Golden Burning Sun” moment. We were all in agreement with her that it brought together a perfect sort of synergy to all of it.

BK: Classic MC.

JK: Classic MC.

BK: Now, what about when we all went together to the Mattel Inc. headquarters?

JK: We felt like full secret agents penetrating the Mattel Inc. building.

BK: The proper behind-the-scenes look at how the dolls are made.

BR: That was insightful and helpful to the whole process. To look at samples of hair and samples of skin, all the dolls that they showed us and the previous work that they’d done – things that they were working on…

BK: The Barbie Hall of Fame…

JK: Seeing the breakdown of all the details that go into making a Barbie, in a way, was almost a disillusionment of this fantasy doll that was so important, particularly to me, growing up. So part of it was this fantasy just to go there, and then to go there with this idea of creating a Miley Barbie was so fantastic.

BK: I was gagged that a lot of the dolls’ faces are still hand-painted.

JK: That it’s just too specific for a machine. I love that.

BR: And James, speaking of that, was there anything that you created for MC on this that was hand-painted?

JK: I actually don’t know what elements were hand-painted on the face. I feel like the first part of the doll decision-making was her clothing. And then the second element was, ‘What is her hair going to be like? Is it going to be this “Golden Burning Sun” look? Are we going to do the two colours?’ And then finally, ‘What is the face?’ To me, there’s style, there’s hair, but the face makes her identifiably Miley. And so getting those facial elements right was crucial. Thinking, ‘What makes Miley’s face different from a Barbie doll face? How do you break it down so that she really looks like Miley and not sort of a generic Barbie face?’ And I think this new Barbie doll looks like Miley.

BR: As we have seen with other Barbies, they were really questioned about how they looked. But I was also, like you, extremely happy with the outcome. I hate to be biased, but I thought it was one of the best Barbies I’ve ever seen.

BK: It really is. I also know that at the Grammy Awards, when we were backstage, we saw [singer] Gloria Estefan and her Barbie is so major.

BR: Oh my God, that was great.

BK: I know. And Miley asked her, ‘How did you get your Barbie to look so major?’ And Gloria said, ‘You have to go in and give them every detail.’ Gloria is the one who told us that we have to bring in the outfit for them to duplicate because the more details they have, the better the Barbie is going to come out.

JK: And that’s why, with her face, I gave them all these charts with measurements of her jawline to her cheekbone, her cheekbone to her eye, her eye to her eyebrow, what kind of eyebrow it’s gonna be, how the eyeliner sits and how long it’s gonna be on the eye, and how there’s a slight bump on hernose, what lip expression are we gonna give her, and all of that.

BK: You know what I gave them, James?

JK: What?

BK: Her body measurements. They got it perfect.

JK: Amazing. We really were dissecting what makes Miley look like Miley. It was so fascinating because her measurements are really specific. Miley’s body and face are not generic. They’re so specific and so beautiful. Of course, I’m obsessed with Miley’s face. I thought I knew every millimetre of her face, but I really didn’t. Analysing her face and figuring out what makes Miley different from everybody else was such a fun process for me. I feel like the result is really beautiful because of that – which is Miley all over.

BK: I love when we get to pick out all the colours. We got to pick out her skin tone.

JK: Yes, and I have to say, Bradley picked her skin tone. I was debating on her skin tone, and Bradley was like, ‘No! It has to be this skin tone.’

BR: I picked the MC Barbie’s hair colour just like I picked her hair colour at the time. And as you guys were saying about what Gloria had mentioned, that really worked in our favour because we picked everything down to every detail…And there was not a lot of bickering, right? The first thing they showed us wasdrop-dead gorgeous.

BK: I think they were surprised at how decisive we were. We were all like, ‘It’s this, it’s not this, it’s that. What’s the best leather that you have?’

BR: I thought it was a really interesting meeting because there were like four [employees] from Mattel Inc. They were very detailed. They had the hair specialist and the makeup specialist; it was very well done. I think they knew that we were serious about exactly what we were looking for.

JK: It’s cool with the hair too, because Bob, you were colouring her hair in such an artistic way at that time. And with the MCBarbie, it was really like your artistry, which was going into her hair colour and all the different colours of her hair. It wasn’t just some generic blonde or streaked or whatever…It was artfully placed, and so they really were able to recreate your artistry, which is so cool.

BK: My favourite is the sketch you made, Bob.

BR: I swear to God, I was just looking through my folder and I can’t fucking find it. I’m so pissed. I wanted to have those notes in front of me today, and I couldn’t find them that fast.

BK: But I know you were very particular about how full the hair should be, how long the hair should be.

BR: Absolutely, and I’ll say it again: it was a great experience because, as you guys know, to say this is really not easy…But they really got it. They got what James had brought to it, what Bradley brought to it. I thought it was a huge success. I can’t wait to get mine. I feel like I’m the only one who doesn’t have one yet.

BK: You guys want to be jealous? [Holds up the Barbie Signature Miley Cyrus Collectible Doll to the camera.]

JK: That’s so good…Even on this blurry Zoom, it still looks like her.

BK: Honestly, the outfit was the easiest. I just literally had to give them the Alaïa to knock off. And then we got Alaïa to jump on board and approve it!

JK: I mean, that was so major.

BK: Even with the little heel, how perfect they made that Alaïa heel.

JK: That curved heel.

BK: Yes! And the sunglasses with the teeny tiny screw, just like the real ones. Every little detail is so on point.

BR: It’s really incredible, guys. How often can we say: ‘This really is perfect.’ I’m sorry, but it’s true.

JK: And to go into the Mattel Design Centre was so cool because it was close to the movie enough that there was this sort of frenzy around it. You arrive, and little Barbie-mobiles are going around in the parking lot, and you’re walking, and there are all these toys.

BK: I have a picture of us standing in front of the pink Barbie elevator.

BR: Oh yes, I remember!

JK: I mean, Bradley had to reel me in because I was completely digressing into infantile stages. It was just too exciting to be there and see all those dolls. Is there anything else we haven’t touched on yet? What was Miley’s feedback when she started seeing the Barbie come to life?

JK: Oh my God, she was totally involved in everything, so it’s hard to say. She was guiding the whole process.

BR: Exactly that.

JK: And I sent all of my notes to her before anything.

BK: She had been thinking about it for a while because they said you could be in anything. She thought it was important to have a timeless look that represented her past and would represent her future. And if there’s one through line through her whole career, it’s that Miley will always be in leather and/or Alaïa. She was when she was little; she will be in 10 years from now. So I think that was important to her.

BR: That’s actually what I meant in my opening statement. It’s absolutely the past and the future. As we would say, our girl is everything.

BK: Everything.

BR: It was just that zenith of that Something Beautiful moment. Remember the filming of that? Well, on the motorcycle and stuff? It was just incredible.

BK: It has the element of complete femininity, but it also has her power, toughness, all the things that are really a part of who she is. And her over-the-top-ness and her glamour. She’s so able to embody all these states at once.

BR: It’s still amazing what we were witnessing that day.

JK: The only thing we couldn’t have in the Barbie case was a wind machine.

BR: That was discussed. That was absolutely discussed. Even the hair being wind-blown.

JK: If you watch that video, she is whipping that hair around, and we had the fans going. Bob was in charge of blowing that hair, and she was in charge of whipping that hair, and it was just so good. So going back to Miley’s involvement, Miley was co-producing and co-directing her album Something Beautiful, and it really was all of us sort of in this synergistic moment, fulfilling her dream vision of this amazing project we all worked on. What are your favourite features of the MC Barbie? And what do you think the fans’ favourite will be?

BR: [Laughs] I love the hair!

JK: I love the makeup!

BK: I love the styling!

JK: And the body proportion. She does have the ideal body proportion, right, Bradley? She has crazy body proportion.

BK: It’s actually very similar to Barbie’s…Except Miley has a smaller waist and a smaller back. But the legs are the same length.

JK: Her body is iconic, and she uses it, which is so beautiful. She embodies her body. I guess I’m also really glad they really nailed that face, because it’s her. I used to have a Cher Barbie, and it felt like you were looking at Cher. And Miley really looks like Miley. It looks specific.

BR: Very true.

JK: Her cheekbones, her contour, her eyeliner, her expression.

BR: That magic smile.

BK: You know what else I love? Not to be shady, but to speak to Miley’s impact, basically. Most of these girls get their dolls later in life…

BR: Very true!

BK: The legacy doll. But she’s got her doll while she’s still young and a doll herself. It’s not like a career perspective. It’s her right now, which is so major.

JK: Miley is an artwork in progress. She is constantly changing. She’s constantly moving into new eras. She’s evolving vocally and musically, and her looks are always a part of that. So it’s so exciting to see what’s gonna be happening in the future for her, because she doesn’t stay still.

BR: Her life is just an amazing comet; it’s always flashing across the sky, flashing across our eyes.Where are you going to display your Barbies?

BK: On my desk, in my office, next to the other Barbie that I was a part of…Kylie Minogue’s “Padam Padam” Mugler moment.I have two Barbies that came out in the same year…Custom Alaïa and custom Mugler.

JK: Bradley always serves, serves, serves. Seriously. Miley’s vision and Bradley’s vision helped guide this whole process for me and just kept it smooth…

BR: …“Stylist of the Year”, Annual Fashion Los Angeles Awards!

BK: Oh my God. I have that on my desk too. [Poses with his award.]

BR: [Laughs] I’m going to keep mine, when I get mine, right on my bed. Out of the box.

BK: I’m not taking mine out. Mine’s collectable.

JK: I have to get so many for friends; so many people want it. Everyone’s so excited.

BR: I want to get a few of them and make a sculpture out of them.

BK: The new Barbie could be my new fit model. It’s obvious you truly loved every stage of the process of making this Barbie come to life and working with Miley in general.

JK: Yeah, working with Miley is like that at all times. It’s very exciting.

BR: It’s not work.

JK: It’s joyful and fun. It’s so amazing because she’s so in it. She’s totally in and embodying the moment, so it’s easy to just join in and be a part of that.

BR: Complete magic. Before you go, do you think you could all summarise the MC Barbie in one word?

BK: I know this word gets thrown around a lot, but it really is iconic.

JK: Joyful.

BR: Excellent.

JK: It’s everything! Dangerous, sexy. SHE is everything.

The Barbie Signature Miley Cyrus Collectible Doll is available for sale from Amazon, Walmart, Target and Mattel Creations for an SRP of $60 starting 30th June.

WONDERLAND SUMMER ’26, GUEST EDITED BY MILEY CYRUS AVAILABLE NOW.

Words Ella West