According to today’s LA Times (article here) and a couple weeks ago in the People’s Daily (article here), Barbie’s a debutante once more, this time for the gala opening of Mattel’s megastore on high street Huaihai Road in Shanghai.
Moms and daughters can now indulge in chit-chatting mani-pedi’s either side of shopping for their arguably collectible likeness of the forever young 50 year-old. To celebrate her birthday and new Mainland digs Barbie has gone under the knife for some enhancements — though not in a paparazzi-hounded 90210 clinic, but the hinterland factories of Guangdong province. Her latest clone features “bigger eyes, a rounder face and a softer complexion.”
There’s also an emerging stir about her body adornments(s), as she’s accessorized with a variety of stick-on tattoos, presumably lifting a page from the stylebooks of Angelina and, more conservatively, The Lohan (what’s “La Bella Vita” in Mandarin, anyone?). Will be interesting to see how that plays out in a culture that has traditionally associated tats with punks and criminals, not doe-eyed fashionistas. Still, with China churning trends at a breakneck clip these days Miami ink could very well be the Next Big Thing a few hours from now.
My main curiosity is if perennial Chinese faves Mickey and Winnie (and Tigger, too) will entertain the diva as their new BFF, or instead hawk bricked iPhone snapshots of her in compromising situations to TMZ and Gawker. Let the post-Beijing games begin….
Posted by: Colin Mangham