Barbie buzz a boon for biz

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This article was published 28/07/2023 (832 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

All of the buzz around the Barbie summer blockbuster has been creative fuel for enterprising Manitobans who are more than ready to think pink.

Businesses have jumped aboard the Barbieland Corvette, offering themed cocktails and smoothies, custom cakes, salon deals on Mattel-magenta nails, eyelash extensions and glam makeup application, along with displays of pink clothing and elaborate party decor. A local real estate agency even embraced the trend by posting photos of its real estate agents under the Barbie logo, proclaiming, “It’s all about life in the dream house!”

For crafters, artists and vintage lovers, the spotlight on Barbie presents more than a marketing opportunity; there are so many possibilities in an irresistible colour palette.

“This is so unapologetically fun,” Kali Martin, owner of Atomic Age Vintage, said. Martin spent more than six months sourcing and curating vintage home goods, clothing and furniture so she could unveil her all-pink booth at the Johnston Terminal Antique Mall at The Forks in time for the Barbie movie hitting theatres last week.

Martin included a few of the dolls, but went for more of a Barbie vibe than a literal interpretation: kitchen chairs with adorable heart cutouts from the 1950s era, bright luggage — which sold in record time — a mid- century tulip lamp and a rosy array of nighties and dresses.

“I was really committed to the bit,” she said with a laugh.

The response was overwhelmingly positive, and Martin had to restock her booth in just days — a turnover time unheard of in the vintage market. Pink and turquoise are generally the most sought-after colours among shoppers, and were popular in the ’50s and ’60s, said Martin, who’s been selling vintage items full time for about eight years. With the resurgence of Barbie, vintage and recycled items have a chance to be on trend, she hopes, as does bold use of colour.

“I think there’s something about the nostalgia of Barbie and the freedom of childhood,” Martin said, particularly as we collectively emerge from a dark place.

“The last few years have not had that pink-tinted glow.”

Playing with Barbies as an Indigenous kid involved a lot of wishful thinking for Nicole Bester.

“Growing up, I always wanted a Barbie that looked like me, and I never had a Barbie that looked like me,” the 22-year-old Anishinaabe artist from Sagkeeng First Nation said. That changed in late June, when Bester used fabric scraps to create a Barbie-sized traditional ribbon skirt and used it to transform a darker-skinned swimsuit Barbie doll.

Although she specializes in beadwork and doesn’t usually make doll clothes, Bester said the process was pretty similar to sewing a full-size ribbon skirt, “just super teeny.”

“The only problem for me, where I had some trouble, was making the waistband for the Barbie. It was so small there that I couldn’t use my sewing machine. I had to hand sew it,” she said with a giggle.

Bester donated the ribbon-skirt doll to Anne Ross day nursery on King Street after she performed a jingle dance for the children there. The daycare has already requested more ribbon skirt dolls, said Bester, who sells under the name Memengwaa Beads.

“They’re asking me to make more so everybody can play with it.”

It’s important for the kids to have representation and experience inclusivity with the toys, Bester said.

“I just want them to have what I didn’t have growing up. I want them to have that Barbie that looks like them,” she said. “With this movie coming out, too, and all this hype around it, they might hear about Barbie, so I just want them to have a Barbie that’s for them.”

After shuttering her custom furniture painting business because of the COVID-19 pandemic, graphic designer Angie Zubrin continued to paint in her St. Andrews garage on evenings and weekends. One of her most recent projects is a children’s three-piece bedroom furniture set handpainted with the Barbie logo.

“I would’ve died for that as a kid,” said Zubrin, who described herself as “a humongous Barbie fan when I was a kid.”

Zubrin said it came together as a bit of a timely coincidence. She already had the pink paint and the furniture, and painted it just in time for the movie’s release.

“I’m still waiting to sell it, but I just want to make a little kid’s day,” she said.

Zubrin gave away her Barbie doll collection long ago, she said with a slight hint of regret. Otherwise, she’d be pulling the toys out now and reliving memories of playing Barbies with her sister.

“I feel like it’s going to bring back lots of memories for lots of people,” Zubrin said.

katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com