Marni Senofonte, Beyoncé's stylist, collaborates with Mattel for some amazing Barbie dolls!

The @Barbiestyle instagram account, one of the official Mattel accounts, posts photos and set ups featuring Barbie in a variety of roles and outfits, attracting a huge number of followers and exerting real social media influence. Many times, the dolls and outfits featured are one-of-a-kind creations, driving Barbie and fashion doll collectors crazy with envy, as they know they are never getting these dolls to own. The latest series of photos talked about online are from Mattel's collaboration with none other than Beyoncé's stylist extraordinaire, Marni Senofonte.

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As mentioned in her webpage, Marni Senofonte is a stylist, costume designer, and brand consultant. Her distinct style, which has evolved over the last two decades, layers proportion and pattern, texture and technique, high-end designer and fast fashion, to create iconic, trend defining look. Her work spans editorial spreads to appearances, music and films to world tours. Intensely collaborative, she enjoys teaming with designers, craftsmen and artisans to not only realize her vision and the vision of those she works with, but also to create outfits, imagery and full-realized brands that are both distinct and defining. She has worked with a wide range of celebrities and personalities, from Beyoncé, Lauryn Hill, and Sean Combs to Ciara, Mary J. Blige, and Jay Z, as well as with brands such as Gucci, Kenzo, Roberto Cavalli and couturiers Ulyana Sergeenko and Francesco Scognamiglio. Originally from a small town in Pennsylvania, Marni started her career as Norma Kamali's assistant. She now lives between Los Angeles  and New York City.

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Like most people interested in fashion, Marni was playing with Barbie dolls as a kid, cutting their her, redressing and styling them. Like many kids out there, the doll was her first foray into fashion, unleashing her creative potential. Coming full circle, her collaboration with @BarbieStyle features a range of one-of-kind looks showcasing a very diverse range of body, hair, and skin options. The stylist mentions that the Barbie Fashionistas line with their diverse body types (original, curvy, tall, and petite),skin tones and hairstyles, was her main inspiration.  The dolls are not available for purchase. Hopefully we might see some of their style filter through in future releases of Barbie. Below are photos of the dolls from the @Barbiestyle instagram account and sketches of the dolls by Mattel designer Carlyle Nuera. The details and close ups are screen captures from @Barbiestyle instagram stories. All photos courtesy of Mattel.

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Victorian punk is what Barbiestyle calls Senofonte's look for the dolls

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First photos of the new articulated Silkstone Barbies are out!

The new year has begun and with it new fashion dolls are starting to appear. Some of the most anticipated dolls this year will be the articulated Silkstone dolls that were announced late last year. The first images have already appeared from three different sources: an interview in Wall Street Journal of Mary Jordan, stylist for Mattel (to read the interview google the article and read it from there as it is locked if you try to access it directly from the link), the instagram stream of another Barbie stylist and designer, Zlatan Zukanovic. and the official Barbie Collector site with a Robert Best interview. The dolls look really good and if the quality of the vinyl is the same as their non-articulated sisters, the bodies will be a hit for re-boding some of my Mattel dolls, depending on the final price of course.


The image above is from the Barbie Collector interview of Robert Best.


In this photo we can see four different versions of the new Silkstone.


The dolls seem to have two different bust sizes - or is it just an illusion?


Tools of a doll stylist - and the new articulated Silkstone as a red head.


Zukanovic posted this doll in his Instagram feed.


A close up.


And another shot - if I get more than one, I might keep one complete.

Photos courtesy of Wall Street Journal/Emily Berl (first three from top) and Zlatan Zukanovic (last three).