Barbie - A Designer's Muse

People always ask me, "when did you know you wanted to be a designer?" And I'm sure the answer is the same for most designers of my generation. Thanks to Barbie, I had an early inclination of my destiny to be a clothing designer. As early as five, I've been obsessed with Barbie. It was pretty much the only toy I played with from five to ten years old. Yeah, I enjoyed the soap opera story lines of pretend play with my Barbies, but mainly I was obsessed with clothing Barbie. Outfit changes were the main activity of choice.

And after awhile, a true fashionista, even at seven years old, needs to jazz up the Barbie wardrobe and experiment with do-it-yourself creations. No, I wasn't sewing Barbie clothes quite yet, but I was draping cloth on my mini mannequin when other kids were still wetting their pants. My fabric of choice - the Paper Towel (preferably a softer, heavier ply.) I would let my imagination go wild as I draped my perfectly perforated-edged paper towels around my doll's svelte body.

As a child living in Hawaii, there were always remnants of Hawaiian printed fabrics laying around the house from my Mom's many craft projects. To this day, I specifically remember one such remnant in a rich tropical green print with gold metallic accents. I draped the most gorgeous strapless gown for Barbie with a very Donna Karan-esque wrapping technique (probably around the time in the 70's when Donna Karan was honing her trademark wrapping skills at Anne Klein!)

This month Barbie is celebrating her 50th Birthday. Barbie through the ages has always gotten a bum wrap for being too skinny, or perpetuating the idealistic body type for young children. It's all a bunch of crap as far as I'm concerned. I never aspired to look like Barbie, but I certainly wanted her wardrobe. Even as an adult, Barbie continues to inspire me as a designer, whether it be my own vintage Barbie collection or my idealized memories of pretend play with Barbie as a child. Barbie is an icon and a true designer's muse. Who knows, without her, I may have just been a marine biologist or a lawyer. But thankfully, Barbie introduced me to the world of fashion, and the rest is history.