The Joanna Gaines Barbie Doll Encourages Future Interior Designers To Dream Big
Barbie has been everything … an astronaut, a teacher, and even president.
Similarly, Joanna Gaines wears a lot of hats. She’s a beloved television personality, owner of Magnolia Network, editor-in-chief of Magnolia Journal, an author, and more. Of course, she’s also a wife and a mom.
Now, Joanna is a Barbie, too, and it’s only fitting that she has her own Barbie Dreamhouse.
“Growing up, Barbie always felt to me like this big world of endless possibility and I hope this collaboration carries that spirit forward,” said Joanna on Instagram.
This collaboration also has her husband, Chip, head over heels, writing on social media:
“Joanna is already in a class of her own.. but when Barbie called and asked to make her part of their doll family, I nearly burst with pride. I couldn’t help but think of our daughters, our mothers before us, and the countless little girls who will see themselves in her. You really are the best of us.”
Designing A Barbie Dreamhouse Worthy Of The 1970s
“Every now and then something entirely unexpected comes our way — a not-so-everyday opportunity that’s simply too fun to pass up,” writes Joanna in a September 25 blog post unveiling her Barbie doll.
How this doll came about is a process which took some time, with several years going into development of the Joanna Gaines Barbie and the Dreamhouse.
Recalling how she and her sisters played with Barbie dolls as children, Joanna looked back to the Barbie world of her childhood for inspiration.
“Every time I imagined the look and feel of what we’d create for this collaboration, I kept feeling drawn to the ‘70s, which happens to be the decade I was born into,” she said, adding that the aesthetic of the 1970s is something she loves to this day. “Fortunately, the team loved the idea of a retro aesthetic and the sentiment around going back in time a bit, not only to the style of the ‘70s, but back to the spirit of who I was as a six-year-old when I first fell in love with the world of Barbie.”
First, they looked to the Dreamhouse, which found Joanna and the Barbie team going through past Dreamhouses to see what could be incorporated into a townhouse that would harken back to the 1970s.
“We borrowed elements I remembered from my own, like the mid-century breezeblock on the exterior and the pink-and-white color scheme,” she said.
There are also some details that fans of Fixer Upper and Joanna’s overall style will appreciate, like her “love of cozy spaces and baking at the kitchen island.”
Still, she knew the Dreamhouse would still need to be something kids could dream with in their play, noting that there are many removable stickers with potted plants, home decor, and kitchen essentials, akin to “a styling toolkit.”
Joanna added, “This way, kids can tap into their own well of creativity and personal feeling of home as they build out these spaces.”
This was in keeping with a quote by Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie, which she and Chip saw on display at Mattel’s headquarters: “My whole philosophy of Barbie was that, through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be.”
Making The Joanna Gaines Barbie Doll
After finalizing the Dreamhouse, they turned their attention to the Joanna Gaines Barbie doll.
“If you would have asked six-year-old me what I loved to do most, I would have said ‘roller skating,’” she said, adding that skating reflected the feeling of freedom she felt inside back them, and still feels now.
Continuing, she said, “A few years ago I started roller skating again, to feel that same sense of lightness and confidence that I did as a little girl, and I wanted the doll to lean into that spirit.”
Wearing pink roller skates with green laces, she also sports a T-shirt emblazoned with the year Joanna was born: 1978.
The doll also sports her “favorite turquoise earrings and plaid shirt,” adding that personal touch. Throw in the flared jeans, and the look is Joanna, through and through.
“When the samples arrived in Waco, it felt like Christmas morning,” she recalled. “I was giddy— like little girl giddy — as I opened up the townhouse and explored every room. The doll also completely exceeded my expectations!”
Describing her collaboration with Barbie as both “nostalgic” and “fun,” she said it was “an absolute honor to partner with the iconic Barbie brand.” She went on to praise the brand for spending the past eight decades “empowering young girls to dream big and believe that all of us can do or be anything we want.”
Of these unique toys, she said, “For now, and likely for a long time, I’ll keep them displayed on a shelf in my office … I’ll let it be a reminder that I’m never too old to find my way back, to again see my place in the world through a lens of endless possibility.”
Available for pre-order on the Target website, Target notes, “Future interior designers and fans of Joanna Gaines will love playing out stories with Barbie doll designed in her likeness!”
The Joanna Gaines Barbie doll and Barbie x Hearth & Hand with Magnolia Townhouse will be on Target shelves starting December 7.
Ahead of the official shelf date, on October 23-25 at Silobration in Waco, Texas, the doll and townhouse may be purchased in-person.
Watch Joanna Gaines open her Barbie doll, here: