Mattel launches multi-brand Barbie collaboration with Canadian designers

Mattel, which owns Barbie, has unveiled a multi-brand collaboration with five female-led Canadian companies to celebrate the fashion doll's 65th anniversary.

The ‘Barbie Through The Decades’ collection celebrates Barbie’s six-decade history in fashion and beauty with eight looks created by Hilary MacMillan, Ai, Paris Jewellers Canada, Cheekbone Beauty and Sol Kyst.

Each of the Canadian brands has worked together to design eight cohesive looks, featuring more than 100 products, encompassing ready-to-wear, bag and hair accessories, jewellery, eyewear and make-up to complete full looks for each Barbie doll decade.

Jennifer Gileno, head of licensing and retail development at Mattel Canada, said in a statement: "We are celebrating the Barbie brand's 65 yearlong legacy as the brand continues to remain both a fashion icon and a symbol of empowerment showing fans that you can be anything.

"Today, this collection serves as a reminder of the impact we can make when we come together, as we celebrate an industry first and continue to break barriers within the fashion and beauty industries."

The starting point for the collection was six iconic Barbie dolls from the past six decades, the 1959 Barbie, 1960s Twist 'N Turn, 1970s Superstar, 1980s Black Barbie, 1980s Totally Crystal Barbie, and 1990s Totally Hair Barbie.

Barbie collaborates with Hilary MacMillan, Ai, Paris Jewellers Canada, Cheekbone Beauty and Sol Kyst

The 1950s look pays homage to the Barbie original black and white chevron pattern of 1959, updated by Hilary MacMillan with a long piped black blazer teamed with striped trousers, which is coordinated with white cat eye sunglasses from Sol Kyst, and black onyx and white topaz jewellery collection from Paris Jewellers Canada.

Inspired by 1960s Twist 'N Turn Barbie, the 1960s collection draws upon the Mod era and offers up bold pink and fluorescent orange, with statement oval and round silhouette Sol Kyst sunglasses paired with a Hilary MacMillan belted A-Line dress and a trio of colourful retro bangles from Paris Jewellers Canada, and a mini pink bookbag from Ai.

Superstar Barbie of the 1970s has been reimagined with a statement Hilary MacMillan faux fur and leather wrap coat in Barbie’s favourite colour, pink, along with heart-shaped sunglasses from Sol Kyst.

The rich golden hues of purple and gold of the 80s Black Barbie shimmer through with a gold wrap dress and a maxi faux fur coat from Hilary MacMillan, crystal jewellery featuring pink amethyst and blue topaz from Paris Jewellers Canada, and bold square silhouette sunglasses with a rich burgundy acetate frame from Sol Kyst.

This is in contrast to 1980s Totally Crystal Barbie, transformed with a crystal shimmering bag from Ai, pointed cat-eye silhouette sunglasses from Sol Kyst, a showstopping sequin Hilary MacMillan dress with a matching bomber jacket and star-adorned jewellery from Paris Jewellers Canada.

Rounding off the collection is the textured patterning of tone-on-tone greens with pops of cherry red for the 90s with a tweed crop jacket and cargo trousers from Hilary MacMillan teamed with a boxy lime punch bag from Ai and rimless pink sunglasses designed by Sol Kyst.

Each of the looks has coordinating beauty from Cheekbone, including a colour-coordinated trio of mini makeup pencils in three brand-new shades – a shimmery combination of subtle pink eyeshadow, light rose gold highlighter, and a bold matte pink lip.

Commenting on the collaboration, Hilary MacMillan, founder and designer of Hilary MacMillan, said: "When women support women, we all succeed. I'm so proud to be part of a strong group of women founders who continuously inspire me, and coming together to bring our strengths to the creative table to create these looks in partnership with Barbie has been such a rewarding experience."

Chau Liu, co-owner of Paris Jewellers Canada, added: "As an immigrant, family-owned company with a 90 percent female workforce, we are honoured to be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime collaboration with the iconic Barbie doll and other incredible women-owned brands that we truly admire.

“Barbie inspires us to dream big and to reach for the stars – this jewellery collection was created to capture that magic and the iconic fashion of Barbie through the decades."

The ‘Barbie Through The Decades’ collection is available on each of the participating brand's websites with integrated web interfaces to allow consumers to shop each brand hyperlinked together for a seamless consumer experience.