Curvy Barbie, meet DadBod Ken.
A British fashion site inspired by Mattel’s new Fashionistas line of
realistically-shaped Barbies has given the iconic doll’s other half a
makeover of his own.
Graphic artist Jamie Phillips has drawn up a line of mock-up “Fashionistos” dolls for ecommerce site Lyst.com
that includes Beach DadBod Ken - whose muffin top pops over his Bermuda
shorts - along with Bearded Hipster Ken in a flannel shirt and skinny
jeans (and a Barbie tattoo on his left arm), plus a Balding Ken with a
receding hairline and beer belly.
These inclusive Kens also come in various heights, skin tones and hair
textures, similar to Barbie’s diverse rebranding, which includes a
petite muscular Ken, a black Ken sporting an Afro, and an Asian Ken in a
suit.
Mattel remakes Barbie dolls to include a curvy body type
“We noticed that a lot of people on Twitter were asking for Ken to be
given a similar treatment, so we had some fun imagining what an
equivalent makeover would look like,” Katherine Ormerod, Lyst’s
editorial director, tells the Daily News.
“Men need plastic role models, too,” she adds. “Not all men have a
six-pack, thus the ‘dad bod’ belly. Equally, not all men can boast a
full head of hair, so we wanted show that with the balding hairstyle.”
Lyst looked at the most popular fashion pieces purchased by men on
their site over the past year to dress the comical archetypes and
“reflect modern man’s real appearance, plus real fashion tastes.”
All of Ken’s outfits are available on Lyst’s website from designers including Levis, J. Crew, Paul Smith and Ralph Lauren.
The current figurines are just concept visuals, but the feedback has
been so great that Lyst is considering making actual dolls.
Lyst data reveals their male shoppers are spending $80 more than women
per fashion purchase, making Ken’s wardrobe worth about 27% more than
Barbie’s.
The internet raved about Ken’s new look.
“‘Dad-bod Ken’ = Awesome,” tweeted J. Courtney Sullivan.
“Hey! Looks like some gents I know!” added Twitter user DADsquared.
“It’s clear from the response that the world needs more Kens,” says Ormerod
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