Bloomingdale’s Celebrates Barbie at 50
At Bloomingdale’s, Barbie might as well be couture legend. In conjunction with Barbie’s 50th birthday, which is evolving into a global celebration, Bloomingdale’s 59th Street on Feb. 11 will exhibit 120 Barbies through the decades in 60 vitrines on the third floor, with some first editions valued between $25,000 and $27,000. From Feb. 11-22, Bloomingdale’s Third Avenue windows will be dressed in Barbie under the theme “My Boyfriend Is Back” and inside the store, a 242-square-foot Barbie boutique will display Barbie T-shirts, accessories, jewelry, DC Super Hero Barbies, a Barbie Book by Assouline, and the dolls, among other merchandise. There will also will be an event with live Ken and Barbie models. Similarly, Bloomingdale’s SoHo will have window displays and a Barbie shop. Elsewhere, Barbie is celebrating with window displays, shop concepts, exhibits and exclusive and limited edition products at Colette in Paris, La Rinascente in Milan and Fred Segal in Los Angeles, among about 20 stores. For the first-ever Barbie runway show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week on Feb. 14, Barbie’s parent, Mattel Inc., has lassoed 50 designers, Diane Von Furstenberg and Anna Sui among them, to create looks inspired by the doll, some of which will be displayed at Bloomingdale’s. In addition, the first-ever Barbie store is set to open in Shanghai on March 6; an eight-story flagship in a former movie theater. Barbie art by Andy Warhol and Peter Max and others will be on view. There will also be a spa, a restaurant and, for older girls, a $16,000 Vera Wang strapless wedding gown. For any woman who buys it, Mattel will create a doll in her likeness in a miniature version of the gown.
