Dress Like A Doll

Is there a woman out there who's perfect? There is. She's not only brainy - she's a qualified doctor, an architect and a vet - she's also talented as she plays the piano, cello violin and she can even sing. This lady is also good in sports, excelling in tennis, swimming and netball. What's more, she's very fashionable and is as good looking as a doll. Well, actually she is one. Her name's Barbie. Every girl aspires to be just like her and every boy, okay, maybe just Ken wants to marry her.

And now, local label Salabianca is dressing her.

In a convergence of creative collaboration and commercial crossover, salabianca will deck out Barbie doll in the label's signature embellished black dresses this holiday season.

Previously, collaborations with Malaysian designers were limited to one-off gowns made for charity auctions or other special projects.

For the first time in the doll's local history, a home-grown Malaysian ready-to-wear clothing brand has been picked by Mattel, Barbie's maker, to dress the original leggy blonde commercially.

The Barbie Lves salabianca doll range will include a Barbie doll in either a tube dress with toile frill or a 1950's dress with pleats and full skirt, a black bling-bling T-shirt with Barbie's logo and a transparent reusable bag splashed in pink, the doll's signature shade.The duo behind salabianca, Tino Soon and Allan Chan said they are honoured with Mattel's trust in the brand to dress the world's favourite fashion doll.

"The process has been challenging. It is not easy to produce miniature dresses when one is used to making clothes for adults. Everything, from beads, pleats and even Velcro straps have to be super small," Soon said about the project which took the brand eight months to wrap-up.

"This time, Barbie is going to be in black. I talked to mothers and girls on how they want their favourite doll dressed. There will be pleats, volumes and a touch of pink like on the sash," Soon explained.

Barbie, the iconic doll that has come to symbolise fashion and femininity, was launched in 1959 and has over 100,000 collectors globally.

Since her birth, Barbie, or her real name Barbie Millicent Roberts, has been dressed by some of fashion's brightest talents including Oscar de la Renta and Christian Dior. She has also worn wedding gowns by Carolina Herrera and Vera Wang.  Celebrated shoemaker Christian Louboutin even made his signature red-soled shoes for the diminutive fashion icon.

Barbie has been hailed as a fashion icon that knows no bounds, transcending all ages, and is loved by children and women alike. She plays the leading lady when it comes to inspiring creative minds, capturing the imagination of people from all walks of life.But girls aren't the only ones having a barrel of Barbie fun this season. salabianca will also be producing adult replicas of the 12 dresses Barbie wears in the brand's Little Black Dress Collection with stretch fabric as the range's main material.

"Two of the dresses made for the dolls will also be made for adults, allowing fans to have Barbie's mesmerising matching frocks and to literally play doll, something every girl, no matter how old, can relate to".

A separate collection - a more colourful one, will also be available. "They are predominantly inspired by Barbie, with full skirts, frills and 1950's influence. It's what we think Barbie would love to wear," said Chan.