It is 63 years since Barbie first appeared – a blonde in kitten heels with a 39in bust. Now, she’s about to star in her own film. Enthusiasts and academics reveal how the doll became an unlikely beacon for feminists and the liberal left
n a colourful Brighton living room, a group of trashily dressed friends plan a trip to Benidorm over a tray of barbecue meats, a cluster of platinum blondes gossip beneath 1970s hairdresser hoods and a “lovely lady” called Alex, dressed in a short skirt and a bra top, runs a thriving pole-dancing club. Meanwhile, in a crystal chandelier-lit salon, a dinner party is under way, where guests sit before a dining table strewn with dismembered body parts and the decapitated head of Jack Sparrow.
When Piñeiro’s grandmother bought him a brunette ballerina doll he was quickly hooked. He now owns more than 500 vintage Barbies and Sindys , although he recently sold 100 sought-after vintages to fund his Brighton flat deposit, raising “several thousand pounds”. In July, the latest volley in the long rehabilitation of the world’s most famous doll hits our screens. Directed by indie darling Greta Gerwig and co written by Gerwig and her partner Noah Baumbach,, billed as a tongue-in-cheek romantic comedy, is the first live-action film in the Barbie franchise.
‘Barbie comes in all shapes and sizes and attires; some are avant garde works of art’: Tristan Piñeiro, 50, at home in Brighton.There are distinct categories of adult collectors, Rawling explains. You have the purists who collect Barbies for their investment value and keep them boxed Then there are those who see their dolls as there to be enjoyed. “I suppose you would say us lot are playing.”
Barbie has represented 150 careers and more than 40 nationalities in the long decades of her existence, although there have been controversies.