For Barbie, who is celebrating her 60th anniversary birthday this year, life in plastic is actually fantastic. While we were brushing Barbie's hair and dressing her in designer collaborations with Oscar de la Renta, Christian Dior, Diane von Furstenberg, and Karl Lagerfeld, she was solidifying her position as the ultimate Fashion Person™. And in June, the CFDA will award Barbie for her effort.
On Thursday, the Council of Fashion Designers of America announced it will honour Barbie with the Board of Directors’ Tribute award at the 2019 CFDA Fashion Awards. The CFDA is celebrating her influence on American fashion and her role as an inspiring icon around the world. A press release notes that for the past six decades, the iconic doll has collaborated with more than 75 designers and influencers including Gigi Hadid and Jeremy Scott for Moschino.
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In 2015, Scott created an eight-piece collection for Barbie (which sold out on Net-A-Porter within an hour). As he wrote in an essay for The Guardian, “Barbie is the perfect muse for a designer: she’s had every job imaginable and an outfit for every occasion, from day to evening, put together with real flair.”
“Barbie has always been a mirror of social and fashion trends, a constant reflection of the times,” Barbie senior design director Robert Best told Refinery29 in 2016. “It’s not Barbie’s job to occupy the 'edge’ of a trend; ideally, we want her comfortably in the middle, in that sweet spot where a design is most accessible and appropriate for kids and relevant to the widest possible range of consumer.”
“Barbie has had such wide influence on American fashion and culture,” said Steven Kolb, President and CEO of the CFDA. “Her story personally resonates with so many CFDA members that the Board of Directors decided to honour her with the special tribute.”
Past honourees include First Lady Michelle Obama, Tom Ford, Gloria Steinem, Janelle Monáe, Cecile Richards, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg — and now a doll will join the ranks.