The Çiğdem Akın Barbie collaboration carried the cult toy brand’s message of strong women onto the Turkish designer’s runway.
Barbie is now at fashion week with Çiğdem Akın
After many years as an executive at Vakko, Çiğdem Akın founded a brand of her own in 2004.
Çiğdem Akın has succeeded in making the brand’s name known abroad too, and since 2006 she has taken part in prestigious fairs abroad. As a result, Akın’s show made a big splash this year.
As you know, Barbie had in fact created a type of woman that has been with us since childhood. What’s more, this type manipulated our perception of a beautiful woman beyond the ordinary, which is why it always drew criticism. But now Barbie, trying to break down this image, is managing to convey this through successful designers. The designs of the new dolls now on the market send women a clear message: women can be different and can succeed on whatever path they choose. It is at exactly this point that Çiğdem Akın’s timelessly designed clothes met Barbie. And so we watched this show.
Yes, the show’s sponsor was the cult toy brand Barbie. Barbie had previously sponsored Moschino’s show at Milan Fashion Week. What’s more, it is a source of pride that this time it has signed a special collaboration with a Turkish designer.
“Dream”, “You can do it”, “Every day is a new beginning”, “Woman and brave”, “Despite all the difficulties”, “I will do it”… These were the phrases on the clothes that attracted the most attention at Çiğdem Akın’s show on Friday.
Barbie’s New Spirit
Barbie has now turned 60. Like everyone and everything, she is changing and evolving with the times. It is obvious that pressures and impositions exist outside Turkey too. Barbie is breaking free of this imposed idea of beauty, charting a new path by reflecting what women’s beauty should be in the new doll designs.
Çiğdem Akın Barbie Show
The message of the Çiğdem Akın Barbie show
Launched by Mattel in 1959, Barbie was criticised for years for feeding a one-size-fits-all perception of beauty. Recently the brand has turned to dolls representing different professions and appearances, a step that looks like part of an effort to change this image. At the Çiğdem Akın Barbie show, slogans such as “Dream” and “You can do it” were on the clothes, carrying this new narrative onto the runway. Akın founded a brand of her own in 2004 after years as an executive at Vakko, and the label’s timeless line provided a simple backdrop for these messages.
For the runways of the same season, you can also take a look at our article Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul Spring/Summer 2020. For the history of Barbie, meanwhile, the Barbie entry on Wikipedia is a comprehensive source.
Image: Barbie dolls wearing different fashion outfits on illuminated display shelves (representative image) — Librarygurl, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0