Barbie and Ken get teddy-bear coats for Paris Fashion Week
French designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac has shrunk his teddy-bear coat to doll size for Barbie and Ken. The pair wear miniature versions of the playful outerwear he first made famous in the 1980s. They launch on 3 Oct during Paris Fashion Week, the twice-yearly run of runway shows in the French capital, WWD reported.
The dolls will go on sale Friday at 6 p.m. CET. They will be sold exclusively on the Mattel Creations website, the online shop run by Mattel, the US toy company behind Barbie. The price is $150.
The dolls are also set to be unveiled at a launch event on Saturday during Paris Fashion Week. That puts the reveal in front of designers, buyers and press gathered in Paris for the new-season collections. It is an unusual spot for a toy launch.
The coat has a long history. De Castelbajac first made it in 1986 from stuffed toy bears. He built it as a statement against animal fur.
For Ken, the designer made a simplified version of the coat. The doll wears it with baggy jeans and sneakers. Barbie’s look carries a personal touch. De Castelbajac dedicated his Barbie doll to his 7-year-old daughter Eugenie.
For fans, this means a fashion piece with a backstory is now pocket-sized. The original coat was about refusing fur. The doll version keeps the shape, the rows of small bears stitched across the fabric, but drops the provocation for play.
