After traveling to Phoenix, Las Vegas and Duluth, “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” makes its exclusive East Coast engagement at MAD timed to the iconic doll’s 65th anniversary.
“It’s definitely this nostalgic trip down memory lane,” MAD’s senior curator Barbara Paris Gifford told WWD of the exhibit, which features 250 dolls and vintage life-size fashions.
Inspired by Karan Feder’s 2023 book “Barbie Takes the Catwalk,” “A Cultural Icon” spotlights the evolution of Barbie dolls from the 1950s to present day. Era-defining aesthetics like the space age, psychedelia and disco are reflected in her miniaturized clothing, and designer collaborations with Moschino and Oscar de la Renta are also on display.
“As it happens, Mattel had not kept a historical collection of Barbies,” Gifford added. “They decided from the book that they wanted to do an exhibition based around fashion.”
Ahead, see inside “Barbie: A Cultural Icon,” on now through March 2025.
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Inside the “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” Exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design
Image Credit: Jenna Bascom Installation view of “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
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Inside the “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” Exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design
Image Credit: Jenna Bascom Installation view of “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
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Inside the “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” Exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design
Image Credit: Jenna Bascom Installation view of “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
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Inside the “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” Exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design
Image Credit: Jenna Bascom Installation view of “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
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Inside the “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” Exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design
Image Credit: Jenna Bascom Installation view of “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
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Inside the “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” Exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design
Image Credit: Jenna Bascom Installation view of “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
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Inside the “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” Exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design
Image Credit: Jenna Bascom Installation view of “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
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Inside the “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” Exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design
Image Credit: Jenna Bascom Installation view of “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
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Inside the “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” Exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design
Image Credit: Jenna Bascom Installation view of “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
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Inside the “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” Exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design
Image Credit: Jenna Bascom Installation view of “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
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Inside the “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” Exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design
Image Credit: Jenna Bascom Installation view of “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
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Inside the “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” Exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design
Image Credit: Jenna Bascom Installation view of “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
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Inside the “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” Exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design
Image Credit: Jenna Bascom Installation view of “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
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Inside the “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” Exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design
Image Credit: Jenna Bascom Installation view of “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.