‘Barbie Couture’ tempts fashionistas in Japan

Posted on May 29, 2008 
Filed Under fashion news

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Kumiko Suzuki, a 22-year-old college student in Japan, played with Barbie dolls as a child. She says she always saw Barbie as her ideal image of a glamorous Western princess. “She’s slim, she’s blond and she’s just a dream,” Suzuki said. “I want to be just like her.”

Barbie’s maker, Mattel Inc., thinks it has found a way to cash in on Suzuki’s desire — and, it hopes, reinvigorate the 45-year-old doll line at the same time, despite her breaking off her romance with Ken, whom she met in 1961.

Mattel, based in El Segundo, Calif., has teamed up with Japanese fashion house Sanei International Co. to create “Barbie Couture.” The costly line of human-sized clothing is sold in its own boutiques, next to high-end designer stores like Burberry or in upscale department stores like Isetan. More…

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