LOS ANGELES, (Reuters): At 65 years of age, Barbie shows no signs of retiring from her 250 different jobs as a plastic and fantastic doll whose small feet have left a big cultural mark on the human world.

The original Mattel Barbie with her iconic blonde hair, black and white bathing suit and eyes angled to the side, was inspired by creator Ruth Handler’s daughter, Barbara, in 1959. However, in 2024, as Barbie celebrates her 65th anniversary, the dolls are produced in a diversity of colors, hair textures, body shapes and more.

“Barbie used to be a more singular reflection of beauty and more one-dimensional. Today, there are many Barbies, and we’ve got multiple views of the brand,” Executive Vice President and Global Head of Barbie & Dolls, Lisa McKnight, told Reuters at the Mattel Design Center in Los Angeles.

Barbies come in 35 skin tones, 97 hairstyles and nine body types, including dolls with wheelchairs, Down Syndrome, vitiligo and plus-sizes as well as gender neutral dolls.

The doll has also become the fashion icon recently inspiring Barbiecore and helping many renowned hair stylists and clothing designers, like Karl Lagerfeld, get their start. Adding to the brand’s evolution, the commercial success of the 2023 8-time Oscar-nominated “Barbie” movie directed by Greta Gerwig, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling added a new emotional depth to the doll.

However, these gains didn’t come overnight. “I’m so grateful I didn’t grow up with Barbie,” women’s rights activist Gloria Steinem said in the 2018 Barbie documentary on Hulu “Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie.”

“Barbie was everything we didn’t want to be, and were being told to be,” she added, referring to her work as a second-wave feminist advocating for equality in the 60s and 70s. To this day, the doll is still associated by some with unrealistic body proportions, gender roles and Eurocentric beauty standards.

While considering these concerns, Mattel keeps adding multifaceted dolls to be pretty in pink. The brand is open to different voices that go beyond that of its designers.

“What’s most important for us is that we take on board consultation from all kinds of communities when we’re designing,” said Kim Culmone, Mattel’s vice president of Barbie Design. While expanding, however, some things remain true for the toy brand, including hand-painting Barbies and using the same sewing machines that have been around since 1959.

Whether it is hand-sculpting new dolls or operating advanced 3D-printers, the brand is open to change. The 65th anniversary dolls created by Filipino lead designer for Barbie Signature, Carlyle Nuera, are a reimagining of the original Barbie’s bathing suit as a black and white gown accompanied by white cat-eye sunglasses.

Rather than just the classic white doll with blonde hair, there’s also a Black doll with braids and laid edges, a popular style for Black women that includes soft and sleeked baby hairs. “If we continued to do the same thing that we’ve done before, over and over again, Barbie would not be the success that she is today,” Culmone said.

Content credits: Reuters

NEW DELHI, (PTI): The much anticipated 71st edition of Miss World will be held in India from February 18 to March 9, the organisers said on Friday.

With its latest edition, the coveted international beauty pageant is making a return to the country after nearly three decades. The pageant will commence with ”The Opening Ceremony” and ”India Welcomes the World Gala” by the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) in New Delhi on February 20.

It will conclude with a grand finale at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai on March 9 and will be streamed and telecast across the world.

The pageant will unfold across various venues, including the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi and will see 120 contestants from countries across the globe participate in various competitions and charitable initiatives.

The announcement was made at press conference here that was attended by the current Miss World, Karolina Bielawska of Poland, along with former winners Toni Ann Singh (Jamaica), Vanessa Ponce De Leon (Mexico), Manushi Chhillar (India), and Stephanie Del Valle (Puerto Rico).

“My love for India is no secret and having the 71st Miss World Festival in this country means a lot to me. A big thank you to Jamil Saidi for his Herculean efforts to make this return to India a reality. We have assembled the very best team for the 71st edition,” Julia Morley, chairman and CEO of the Miss World Organization, said in a statement.

India last hosted the international pageant in 1996. Chhillar was the most recent Indian to win the pageant, having bagged the crown in 2017. Earlier, Reita Faria Powell, Aishwarya Rai, Diana Hayden, Yukta Mookhey and Priyanka Chopra Jonas won the competition. (PTI)

WASHINGTON DC: The international committee for the global pageant Mrs Asia-Universe, today announced here that Haryanavi actor, Instagram influencer and model Nikki Dhankhar was selected from more than 220 entries from the Asian subcontinent to represent India at the event, which aims to create awareness on global warming, climate change and rising sea levels through fashion and fashion pageants.

The international pageant which will feature participants from more than 160 nations is a very prestigious, international show and will be attended by a host of Hollywood actors, directors, singers and other international personalities.

The pageant is scheduled for August-September this year, though the exact date will be announced later.

The 28-year-old Nikki who hails from Rohtak has been modeling and acting for the last few years and is a very popular Instagram influencer in North India.

James Smith Langford, the President of the Mrs Asia-Universe jury welcomed Nikki Dhankhar to the global pageant and wished her all the best. There will be a series of pre-events and Nikki will spend at least two weeks in Australia where the main event will be held.

The Mrs Asia-Universe project is supported by Hollywood fashion photographer Lynn Baxter and his production studio Lynn Baxter Films.

MUMBAI: Model and actor Rayya Labib recently shot for Goan-origin, UK-based fashion designer label Randell Gomes for a fashion concept shoot for a high profile lifestyle publication catalogue Fashion & Lifestyle Asia.

The theme of the shoot was Fashion, Color and Fabrics of India, combining the old with the new.

This shoot will feature Randell Gomes 2023 pret summer and casual wear collection which will be launched targeting the Indian diaspora in the UK.

Gomes who had launched a pret collection last year called Mumbai Fashion Street Collection,  inspired by Mumbai’s fashion street in South Mumbai is re-presenting the same this year due to a good demand.

This year too he has introduced a new line of wearable and affordable clothes for women of all shapes and sizes under the same name and label.

Randell Gomes who was born at Margao in South Goa grew up at Dhobi Talao near the CST Railway Station in South Mumbai and was fascinated by the variety and color of clothes available very cheaply on Mumbai’s famed Fashion Street.

LUCKNOW: He is not just a fashion designer, but Aamir Sharief is a craftsman and embroider himself, belonging to an illustrious line and family that has kept the hand embroidery craft alive in the interiors of Lucknow. And with actor Rayya Labib wearing the intricate outfits for an upcoming film project, Aamir Sharief hopes it will give a big boost to the art and crafts of the almost-forgotten times.

Both Rayya and designer Aamir Sharief have teamed up to promote Tepchi Chikankari designs through her film project and help revive a dying art and craft.

Sharief has come up the hard way, working on designs, embroidery and embellishments with his own hands over the last ten years. And this hands-on experience of about 15 years was very apparent when he spoke to us on phone from Lucknow.

According to Aamir Sharief. “We all know about Lucknowi chikankari work and its various forms. But not many people have heard of Lucknowi tepchi work on Kota fabric. Tepchi is one of thirty-two kinds of chikankari embroidery and is one of the most delicate and intricate forms of embroidery. It is single-thread hand-work which looks good with medium sized floral designs. The delicate, very thin cotton thread work is done is such a way that it gives the impression of print on fabric. The beauty of the work is such that the same kind of stitching pattern runs on flowers, leaves and stems – in fact over the entire design and looks really amazing. It is difficult to make out the right and wrong side of the embroidery by just looking at it and hence it is also known as magic work. Every stitch is similar to the other and uses a very thin type of thread.”

Says Aamir Sharief, “This is a dying tradition and art-form or art work and we hope to promote tepchi chikankari designs bringing the artistic expertise to the fore putting this forgotten art on the fashion map of the world.”

CHANDIGARH, (PTI): Film producer Upasana Singh on Thursday moved a local court against Miss Universe Harnaaz Sandhu, accusing her of not honouring an agreement signed for the promotion of a Punjabi movie.

Singh filed a civil suit in the Chandigarh district court, seeking damages for the alleged breach of contract by Sandhu, who played the lead in her ‘Bai ji Kuttange’.

“I gave Harnaaz a chance to act in the movie ‘Bai ji Kuttange’. Not only this, I also made ‘Yaara Diyan Poo Baran’ in which Harnaaz is the heroine as well,” she told reporters outside the court.

The producer claimed that Sandhu, crowned Miss Universe 2021, had to make herself available in person and virtually for the film’s promotion under the agreement with her Santosh Entertainment Studio LLP. But she has refused to give dates for the movie’s promotion, Singh said.

There was no immediate comment by Sandhu on Singh’s allegations.

“I gave her a chance at that time when she was not Miss Universe,” Singh said. “I spent a huge sum on this movie. It is not a small-budget movie.” She claimed she had to postpone the movie’s release from May 27 to August 19.

Dev Kharoud and Gurpreet Ghuggi have acted in ‘Bai Ji Kuttange’, which is directed by Smeep Kang.

Harnaaz Sandhu was crowned Miss Universe last December at an event held in Israel. Only two other Indians, actors Sushmita Sen in 1994 and Lara Dutta in 2000, have won the title earlier. (PTI)

NEW DELHI: Model and upcoming Goan actress Zara Abraham has been nominated by a Mumbai jury to represent India at the Mrs Universe Earth (for Climate Change) – an international pageant to be held in Dubai later this year.

Representatives and participants from more than 120 nations including Afghanistan and Iran will be participating in the mega event to highlight the impact of Climate Change and Global Warming the world over.

There will be several sub-events and shows associated with the main event, to be held between October and November.

Co-incidentally, the day this announcement was made, Britain recorded the highest daytime temperature at 40C in decades and the warmest night ever, even as Europe reels under a major heat wave.

Besides the international pageant in December this year, there are country-wise and continent-wise pageants like Mrs India Climate Change and Mrs Asia Climate Change, which are being held in October and November this year, a representative for Rainbow Casting & Events, the event company handling the event said.

The 35-year-old aspiring actress who is also into fashion-related events in Goa since the last few years, has done several shoots and modeling assignments in the last two years.

She currently lives in Goa and was shortlisted from several participants nationwide after many rounds of elims, group discussion and other auditions.

Speaking to media persons on her selection and the global concerns about Climate Change, Zara (who uses her stage name) said, “I am thrilled to be selected to represent India this year. Climate extremes, such as droughts, floods, unseasonal rain, and extreme temperatures, can lead to crop losses and threaten the livelihoods of agricultural producers and the food security of communities worldwide. Depending on the crop and ecosystem, weeds, pests, mosquitoes and fungi can also thrive under warmer temperatures, wetter climates, and increased CO2 levels, and climate change will likely increase weeds and pests, thus threatening our very existence. It is very imperative that we take Global Warming very seriously and this pageant is not just a beauty event, but a worldwide movement to aggressively respond to Climate Change with urgent and immediate remedial measures.”

NEW DELHI: Model and actress Shamita Shristi Sharma has been selected to represent India at the Mrs Universe Climate Change – an international pageant to be held in Singapore next year. Representatives and participants from more than 168 countries will be participating in the mega gala event to highlight the impact of Climate Change and Global Warming the world over.

Besides the international pageant next year, there are country-wise and continent-wise pageants like Mrs India Climate Change and Mrs Asia Climate Change, which are being held in December this year.

35-year-old Shamita Shristi Sharma who is also into fashion-related events since the last few years, has done hundreds of print shoots and regional films in the last decade. She currently lives in Mumbai and was shortlisted from more than 200 participants nationwide after several rounds of elims.

Speaking to media persons in Mumbai, on her selection and the global concerns about Climate Change, Shamita Shristi Sharma said: “Climate extremes, such as droughts, floods, unseasonal rain, and extreme temperatures, can lead to crop losses and threaten the livelihoods of agricultural producers and the food security of communities worldwide. Depending on the crop and ecosystem, weeds, pests, mosquitoes and fungi can also thrive under warmer temperatures, wetter climates, and increased CO2 levels, and climate change will likely increase weeds and pests, thus threatening our very existence. It is very imperative that we take Global Warming very seriously and this pageant is not just a beauty event, but a worldwide movement to aggressively respond to Climate Change with urgent and immediate remedial measures.”