‘I hope people recognise we're trying to represent them’: Barbie head designer on bringing the icon to life

‘Barbie has always reflected pop culture, and culture reflected on her too,’ says Linda Kyaw, senior design manager for Barbie at Mattel. ‘But I think that’s one of the reasons she has stayed relevant since her launch in 1959. It’s something that we do extensive research on, making sure that we're always on the pulse of that, and obviously it’s very important to our heritage and the longevity and her legacy.’

Kyaw and I are speaking over Zoom, during a break at London’s Comicon festival, where she is launching the new Doctor Who Barbie. It’s interesting to speak to Kyaw, who has been with Mattel for the last 17 years, 12 of which have been spent in her current job as the lead designer on new Barbie lines. She works across both the signature doll designs and special collaborations with cultural leaders, including The Museum Collection (Van Gogh, Da Vinci, Klimt), the Yves Saint Laurent Collection, the Music Series (David Bowie, Elvis), the @barbiestyle Collection, and the Balmain NFT collaboration.

Kyaw, who moved to Los Angeles as a child and couldn’t afford her own Barbie dolls, says it’s crazy she entered Barbie’s world – a ‘bizarre, humbling experience’, she adds. And one heavy with massive responsibility, I suggest. It has been said that there are around three Barbie dolls sold every second, which would make one billion dolls sold since the brand’s inception.

‘Sometimes when you do things, it requires you to be connected but also to be disconnected. It’s finding the right balance. I don't take it lightly, it's a true badge of honour. I would say there's deep responsibility in it, but also part of you needs to remove yourself and be like, no, this needs to be fun. There needs to be joy in here. You know the weight, but you also know that it needs to be balanced with enough light-heartedness and again, the joy of just the simple things, of designing a creation that sometimes you could get lost in.’

To say Barbies have changed massively in the last six decades would be an understatement. I remember my Barbies being white (although the first Black Barbie appeared in 1980), able-bodied, and very slim, with literally impossible proportions. Barbie’s thigh gap was enviably vast, making a generation of 1980s children endlessly sad their thighs dared to touch. I was nevertheless obsessed, carting boxes of the dolls between my mum’s and my dad’s houses every weekend.

Now, there are petite, tall and curvy Barbies, Barbies of many ethnicities, with many skin tones, with different hair. There is Barbie with a hearing aid, Barbie with a prosthetic leg, Barbie with Down Syndrome.

'I think the best we can do is just [create] as many positive things as we can,’ Kyaw says. ‘People that will get it, will get it, and people that don't, don't. We’re trying to make a difference in the smallest way that we can, but you're right, if you do really think [about the responsibility]. If we're getting into the hands of our youngest consumer, a four-year-old, well, I was also that person, and it really is about the most subtle things, whether it's ethnic representation, body-type representation, and just being able to see yourself in a small, iconic doll form and thinking, “If the doll is doing it, then it's OK for me to do it.” Being represented is not a big shape-shifting moment, but just a common reality that's happening.’

Overseeing so many Barbies – Kyaw says she’s currently working on three years’ worth at once, up to 2027 – demands a lot of creativity. Where does she start when beginning to think about a new doll? ‘We have our creative team, of about 15 people on Barbie for product,’ she says. ‘And I would say each creative person goes at it differently. We use Pinterest a lot [for inspiration]. We use different formats. And we really do believe that inspiration can come from anywhere. Sometimes it's word of mouth, or personal taste. The richer the inspiration points, the richer the doll is.’

The work a doll requires varies, depending on whether it is an original doll, or part of a collaboration, or special edition. ‘Some dolls are very direct and straightforward. In our Doctor Who dolls, they are straightforward, [with] iconic looks from the show itself. The things that are created from the ground up require more mood-boarding. We start with a concept, we get our leadership alignment and approvals. We always try to base our ideas on culture. One thing that we would always keep in mind is the zeitgeist.’

Kyaw notes that it takes an army to bring a doll to life. ‘The origin of an idea is a collaboration between marketing and design. And from there, the designer would have the nucleus of an idea. And then we would work with sculptors, face painters, hair designers, pattern makers, sample makers, who sew the clothes. In the LA office alone, I would say there are at least 15 people on the project. And of course, once it goes overseas to our manufacturing plant, then it starts to touch hundreds of people.’

Once a year, the team sit down for what Kyaw refers to as BDO – Brand Directional Outline – where together they plot all the dolls for the year, taking note of anniversaries. ‘This is where the ideation comes in. And we can say, “Oh, well, we've never done, you know, a masquerade Barbie” – this is just an example. If an idea comes outside of this cycle, and it’s great enough with a lot of potential, we always try to make room in our line for it. Sometimes it's hard to predict when good ideas can come about, and to force the brain that this is the only time you have to think of something. We try not to work like that. But of course, for obvious reasons, we definitely have to have a timetable, while also wanting to capture that moment when it happens.’

Representation is crucial throughout, and key when considering every new line. ‘In an ideal world, we would represent every single body type that exists in the world, and obviously for logistical reasons, we won't be able to do that. I think if people could recognise that we're trying to represent them; there's only so much you can do. It is very powerful, and I'll never forget that, but at the same time, I have to walk away from it a little bit, just so I can take away the pressure and actually do a good job. I know how meaningful it is, but I know I am just a messenger and that once my part is done, the message will last, and that's meaningful to me.’

The Barbie x Doctor Who dolls will be released 31 July 2025 but are now available to pre-order from Mattel Creations (subject to availability) and Amazon (UK)