Indian designer Anita Dongre revealed on Friday a Diwali-themed Barbie doll, complete with a custom lehenga choli and it’s super cute.
This year, Diwali is being celebrated from October 31 to November 1.
“To celebrate the ‘Festival of Lights’, our Barbie® Diwali doll wears the Moonlight Bloom set,” read Dongre’s caption. The brand described the outfit as a “contemporary take on the traditional lehenga”, and said it was paired with a “Rajasthan-inspired koti vest, highlighted with our signature nature-inspired motifs”.
The doll wears a bindi on her forehead and some cute chunky gold earrings, paired with gold heels.
“We are thrilled and honoured to be able to represent the fashion-forward modern Indian woman of today on Barbie, an aspirational global fashion icon across the decades.”
The official Barbie page also shared the news and some additional shots of the doll..
“I love the fact that they are doing this to celebrate Diwali,” the designer told Vogue India. “The festival is being celebrated, specially within the Indian diaspora, in such a large manner now.” In 2023, legislation was introduced in the US Congress to make Diwali a federal holiday.
“In celebration of Diwali, Barbie and I are both encouraging fans around the world to celebrate the beautiful heritage of Indian fashion and culture,” she said. “My brand has always been driven by a mission to empower through fashion, and as the ultimate symbol of women empowerment, partnering with Barbie to create the Barbie Diwali doll couldn’t be a more perfect alignment of our values.”
Now this isn’t the first desi Barbie — that was a doll created in collaboration with Deepica Mutyala, CEO of Live Tinted, a community that celebrates beauty and culture, in 2022 — but it is a great step in promoting diversity.
Though we would have liked to see a little more bling on Diwali Barbie, this is a very cute doll! It’s available for $40 on the Mattel website.
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