Feb 16
Barbie runway show celebrating her 50th anniversary
Mattel, maker of the classic Barbie doll, celebreated the style-icon's 50th birthday/ 50th anniversary with a celebrity-studded runway fashion show. As part of the Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week, on February 14th, the event took place in the Bryant Park Tent. Both, a birthday party and kick-off event for an upcoming fashion brand (According to WWD, “Mattel is lining up new partnerships with Bloomingdale’s, Vera Wang, Jeremy Scott"), 50 designers were asked to contribute.
The list of designers include the bridal fashion super-heavyweight Vera Wang and for shoes Christian Louboutin, of course. Further Alexander Wang, Anna Sui, Baby Phat, Badgley Mischka
Betsey Johnson, Bob Mackie, Brian Reyes, Calvin Klein, Carmen Marc Valvo, Catherine Malandrino, Chris enz, Costello Tagliapietra, Derek Lam, Diane von Furstenberg, Donna Karan, Erin Fetherston, House of ield, Jeremy Scott, Juicy Couture, Kai Kuhne, Kenneth Cole, Koi Suwannagate, Lyn Devon, Marchesa, Michael Kors, Monique Lhuillier, Naeem Khan, Nanette Lepore, Nicole Miller, Norma Kamali, Peter Som, Rachel Roy, Rag & Bone, Rebecca Taylor, Reem Acra, Robert Best, Rosa Cha, The Blonds, Three As Four, Tibi, Tommy Hilfiger, Tory Burch, Tracy Reese, Trina Turk, Tuleh, Twinkle, Vena Cava, Vera Wang, Vivienne Tam, Yeohlee, Yigal Azrouel - an impressive list!
The event created quite an amount of online and TV buzz. During rampup: Sneak Peek: Barbie Fashion Show Sketches, 50 Designers in Barbie Runway Show Unveiled, NY Fashion Week: Meet Barbie Runway Show Designers!, Barbie gets heeled by Christian Louboutin!, Christian Louboutin to Design Shoes for Barbie, Barbie Enters The Fashion World At Age 50.
More of the offline buzz comes from Bloomingdale's, one of the partners of the event: To celebrate Barbie’s 50th birthday, Bloomingdale’s 59th Street store in NY will exhibit 120 Barbies through the decades in 60 vitrines on the third floo, starting on Feb. 11th.
Stunning moving images from the actual runway show can be seen on barbiemedia in high quality and from nitrolicious's video on vimeo. Another great video is the "50 years of barbie" time travel which was a few weeks ago live on the website, but even the official site now links to this YouTube version.
More from the Herald Tribune, and here and here on flickr.