For centuries, it’s been prophesied that when worlds collide, the earth will shake, and the stars will fall from the sky. And while the latest release from the studio of Mattel Creations confirms that much may be true, it also attests to the notion that the melding of two worlds needn’t warp the gravitational field to the effect of flotsam and jetsam. Quite the opposite. In this new dawn, a heritage of designing dolls with a prescient pulse for pop culture coalesces with the technology that affixes their place in the future, giving way to a wonder of two worlds. Call it the Big Barbie Bang.
One such star spearheading the voyage is none other than Barbie, the aspirational it-doll with such a knack for shapeshifting girl power that she’s essentially become the blueprint for multi-hyphenates everywhere—and fittingly so. Who else could juggle an entire archive’s worth of careers, maintain a long-term relationship, make time to kick back with friends, and keep picture-perfect hair? In Mattel Creations’ latest venture, the toy store A-lister reaches past the glittering threshold of the Barbie-verse and into the universe of a fellow renaissance woman…er...doll, rather. Whether they call her a musician, model, or influencer, noonoouri, the mononymic virtual sensation, has made a name for herself by burning up feeds with showstopping, tech-fueled looks, piquing the curiosity of many a swift scroller. Now that both stars have joined forces in the Barbie X noonoouri collaboration, their worlds will eclipse, leaving ours trembling in its sum as two new shiny fashion dolls arise on the horizon. It’s about to get glitzy, whimsical, and very, very pink.
As noonoouri traverses the pixelated boundary of her world and enters that of Barbie, the digital popstar transforms through a whirlwind of tulle, frills, and sequins, materializing as a Barbie doll. Remixed to the tune of noonoouri’s kawaii-coded aesthetics, the features of these Barbie dolls take on a manga-leaning look of wide-eyed intrigue with full inset eyes boasting thickets of lush lashes. And though they are cute in every sense of the word—don’t let the eyes fool you. With adjustable anatomic features that make them ready to strike a pose at any given moment, these are not dolls of the toybox variety. Per their glamorous garb, noonoouri donning a ruffled ensemble of pink textiles and thigh-high sequin boots, Barbie an überglossy vinyl pink foil power suit and silver corset, they’re a spectacle of style in and of themselves. Life in plastic can, indeed, be fantastic.
Granted, they certainly dress the part of the quintessential material girl. And yet, that element of fantasy doesn’t end where their fits do. In true fashion of a 21st-century makeover, a little technology is requisite to seal the deal with that gasp only a transformation of truly extraordinary proportions can afford. And so, that reverie of playing dress up to channel the aspirational self permeates from the plastic and into the metaverse as Barbie embarks upon another adventure, one of noonoouri’s MO, in which the OG fashion doll transforms into an avatar. It’s only natural she’d return the gesture; she is a doll’s doll, after all.
Click here to explore Mattel Creations’ Barbie X noonoouri release.
