Jean-Charles de Castelbajac has miniaturised his emblematic teddy bear coat to dress Barbie and Ken, according to WWD. The launch is set to take place on Saturday, during Paris Fashion Week.
The designer created this coat in 1986, using teddy bear fur as a stance against animal fur. The garment has since been worn by figures ranging from Diana Ross to Pharrell Williams, and was reinvented two years ago in a collaboration with Vetements.
«\u00a0Quand je créais ce manteau nounours, les premières images que j'ai vues de son port aux États-Unis montraient le rappeur LL Cool J. Plus tard, j'ai vu Drake le porter aussi, et j'ai remarqué que les hommes se l'appropriaient, presque comme une robe royale\u00a0», he explained to WWD.
For this doll version, Barbie's graffiti T-shirt dress references the chalk drawings the designer likes to leave on city walls and streets. The look is completed by tall denim boots, a tribute to the États-Unis, the country that embraced him early in his career. Ken's coat, meanwhile, comes in a simplified version, worn with baggy jeans and sneakers.
De Castelbajac has also redesigned the packaging with his signature primary colours and whimsical sketches, replacing the last letter of Barbie's name with a small bear head. He refers to his creation as «\u00a0Bearbie\u00a0». The designer dedicated his Barbie doll to his 7-year-old daughter, Eugénie, who closely followed the project. The dolls will be sold for $150, exclusively on the Mattel Creations website.
On Mattel's side, Robert Best, vice president of Barbie product design, hailed a natural pairing. «\u00a0Barbie a toujours reflété la créativité, l'expression personnelle et la culture du moment. Jean-Charles de Castelbajac est l'une des voix les plus imaginatives de la mode, ce qui fait de lui un partenaire créatif naturel pour Barbie\u00a0», he said. According to a statement relayed by WWD, he adds that the collection «\u00a0célèbre l'individualité, l'expression artistique et le pouvoir durable du jeu à travers la mode\u00a0».
Âgé de 76 ans, in his own words to WWD, the designer shares the particular pleasure of this project: «\u00a0Je suis content, car quand j'étais enfant, je jouais à la guerre avec mes soldats de plomb. Maintenant, à 76\u00a0ans, je joue avec Barbie.\u00a0» His mother, a doll collector, herself owned a few examples.
A major retrospective in Toulouse, held from December to August, drew nearly 148,000 visitors. This success earned him the commission to create the Christmas decoration for the Galeries Lafayette flagship store in Paris. A monograph published by Thames & Hudson is also set to be released in the États-Unis on 8 December.
The Paris launch event was organised with the help of creative consultant Sarah Andelman.
