More than six decades of fantastic life in plastic are packaged up in this show at the Design Museum in London, which looks at the design history and ongoing development of Mattel’s Barbie brand (5 July–23 February). On display are all manner of objects from the Barbie universe – from cars, furniture and fashion to more than 180 iterations of the dolls themselves, many drawn directly from Mattel’s archive in Los Angeles. The vast collection demonstrates how the brand has evolved over the last 65 years, providing insight into Mattel’s design process and how the company has responded to a changing society.
Find out more from the Design Museum’s website . Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary Totally Hair Barbie (1992). © Mattel, Inc.
Dream House (1979). © Mattel, Inc. Toy replica of an Austin Healy (1961).
© Mattel, Inc. Subscribe to get unlimited and exclusive access to the top art stories, interviews and exhibition reviews. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the invention of the Rubik’s Cube, we look at four toys and games spanning centuries and continents that offer different perspectives on how to have fun Before the gal who has everything got into pink, her ideal home was a shrine to midcentury modern living The Wellcome Collection’s sprawling show has a lot in common with a busy department store and proves that the beauty industry can be an exhausting business.
