--- title: Redefining Barbie: The Story Behind Project Dawn | TIME description: TIME takes a look at the decisions behind the latest Barbie re-design, called Project Dawn. Barbie now offers three new body types in addition to the standard: curvy, petite, and tall. canonical: https://time.com/video/Vl3v5HxM/ og:title: Redefining Barbie: The Story Behind Project Dawn og:description: TIME takes a look at the decisions behind the latest Barbie re-design, called Project Dawn. Barbie now offers three new body types in addition to the standard: curvy, petite, and tall. og:url: https://time.com/video/Vl3v5HxM/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Vl3v5HxM/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Redefining Barbie: The Story Behind Project Dawn twitter:description: TIME takes a look at the decisions behind the latest Barbie re-design, called Project Dawn. Barbie now offers three new body types in addition to the standard: curvy, petite, and tall. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Vl3v5HxM/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Redefining Barbie: The Story Behind Project Dawn > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Redefining Barbie: The Story Behind Project Dawn [Watch (HLS stream): Redefining Barbie: The Story Behind Project Dawn](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Vl3v5HxM.m3u8) (5:05)  _Published 2016-01-27. TIME takes a look at the decisions behind the latest Barbie re-design, called Project Dawn. Barbie now offers three new body types in addition to the standard: curvy, petite, and tall._ --- Jul 27, 2023 7:30 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Redesigning Barbie: Inside The Barbie Design Process](/video/jdzfoNPD/) ### Redesigning Barbie: Inside The Barbie Design Process [Behind The TIME Cover With Barbie Stylist Mary Jordan](/video/4hkVdMgF/) ### Behind The TIME Cover With Barbie Stylist Mary Jordan [Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Behind the Scenes](/video/HQvyUsWR/) ### Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Behind the Scenes --- ## Transcript Hi, okay, let's see. Where should I start? Barbie is a symbol of femininity and pop culture. Barbie as a brand is scrutinized to a degree that a lot of toy brands aren't. They suck You know, it's kinda tough sometimes to sit down and really hear. Barbie isn't as popular as she used to be. And listen and kinda take in the truth. It was obvious that there is some work that we need to do. About two years ago we launched a project internally that was a brainstorming project and. We said to our teams, if you could start the brand over today and you didn't have any rules. You could do whatever you wanted. What would you do to make her as relevant as possible. The Barbie brand is introducing three new bodies. Now they can look at Body types from tall to petite to curvy. For the first time really there's a significant change. [ MUSIC ] Now our decision to go on this journey to really evolve the brand was inspired by many things. Of course it was inspired by softness in sales. [ MUSIC ] Let the storm rage on. The cold never bothered me anyway. My gosh I love this song. [ MUSIC ] Everything is awesome. Everything is cool when you're part of the team. Everything is awesome. Of course it was inspired by Laura seeing on social media about Barbie. You know, does she really know what's happening in the world today. She seems a little out of touch. [ MUSIC ] Of course, it was driven by moms and Saying like I don't think that Barbie really speaks to me. And Millennial parents more so probably than any generation of parents are really concerned about what brands signify in their household. I think some of the things that parents were saying about Barbie is that she might be a bad role model for girls, that she represents an unrealistic body type. There are lots of theories around why Barbie gets So much criticism. The same reason that women in general get so much criticism. Some of it is valid. If this is a doll that people say it's a role model and very young children are playing with that, there is a great responsiblity to that and I don't think it's a responsiblity Mattel takes lightly at all. There was a sense that Barbie maybe was not As authentic as she could be as relates to, you know we're fact it was happening to the world. [ SOUND ] [ MUSIC ] There was absolutely no No, a prescription for the divine feet. So, truly the whole design brace was, what would you do to make her relevant? We've been introducing new skin colors. New hair colors. New hair textures. New ethnicity Because as you look around the world and I think that the world that kids are experiencing, is really one that is multicultural and diverse. So Project Don which I think is the next evolution, is to look at body sizes from tall to Too petite, too curvy. And when you seem them all together, it looks like this tribe of young girls the way a kid might see that reflected in their own circle of friends or Or their family or at school. We're disrupting a system of play that has existed for a very long time. It is very complicated. We now have two sizes of feet. So our tall doll and our curvy doll have a larger foot than our original and our petite. We have clothes that may not fit perfectly across all of the dolls. [ MUSIC ] We are in a position of progress, not perfection right now and that's okay. [ MUSIC ] And so while this might not have been the most important signifier of the change. And not answering all of that critique. I think it's a nod to the complex ecosystem of what's happening for girls and toys and play and growing up girl in our culture right now. Women and girls are much more comfortable and confident in expressing who they are as individuals. [ MUSIC ] Our goal was to really celebrate all kinds of beauty and a blond haired, blue eyed doll like Barbie is still beautiful. Just like now the more curvier Barbie with dark hair and darker skin is just as beautiful. [ MUSIC ] You can tell it's Mattel. It's swell. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Redefining Barbie: The Story Behind Project Dawn","description":"TIME takes a look at the decisions behind the latest Barbie re-design, called Project Dawn. 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