Protagonist of an exhibition in France for the first time, Barbie will be the guest star at Les Art Decoratifs in Paris from the 10th of March to the 18th of September.

Born Barbara Millicient Roberts, from Wisconsin, the famous doll was created by Ruth Handler, one of the Mattel’s founders, who wanted to replace her daughter’s (Barbara) paper doll with a three-dimentional doll, which had to be like a mannequin. Ruth was so determined to innovate the young girl’s entertainment, to convince an entire male working group to create Barbie. Since that moment her story has been written, overlooking her age, to let her identify with a teen ager as well as with a young girl.

Andy Warhol, Portrait de Barbie, 1985 © Mattel Courtesy of Les Arts Décoratifs, Paris. All rights reserved

Maybe nobody in the team in 1959 would have imagined the huge success Barbie would have acheived . Across the years, the famous doll has been a schoolgirl, a nurse or an hostess, and these are just three of more than 150 professional roles she played. She has been a veterinarian more than once, a paleontologist, a computer technician, a racer, a teacher, a doctor, a police-woman, for four times a candidate for Presidential elections and an astronaut in 1965, to celebrate the Armstrong’s moon landing. Barbie’s has an history of successes, marked by amazing outfits, from the strangest to the most glamourous, sometimes designed by big names of fashion. With her pop charm she has kept the attention of Andy Warhol too, who dedicated one of his iconic paintings to her.

The Marquise Emilio Pucci and Barbie wearing a dress by Pucci. 1986. Courtesy of Pucci Archive

The tradition of the “poupée de mode” has its origins in the 18th century, when this term referred to three different objects: the little girl’s doll, the miniature of the dress which had to be realized in real measures and the mannequin used in the boutiques. In that period the fashion industry was quite important in the French economic system and it played an essential role in culture. The dressed doll’s mission was to be sent all around the world to export French’s fashion trends. Queen Marie Antoinette herself used to send some dolls to her sisters to share with them the beauty of the fabrics made in Lyon.

Barbie Runway Show, Season Autumn-Winter. New York, 2009. Photo by Etienne Tordoir. Courtesy of Catwalk Pictures

The difference between the “poupée de mode” and Barbie is that the American doll has always been the only protagonist with a strong identity, while the French doll played just the role of mannequin to show and sell magnificent dresses around the world. Anyway both of them have been a marketing phenomena.No other toy until today has had such a strong influence in girl’s education: in fact, Barbie has inspired tastes and habits of many generations of girls since her launch on the market.

Discover amazing Barbie’s items from our archive on Europeana Fashion Portal