Stila Teams Up With Mattel for Barbie Cosmetics Line
Barbie is returning to cosmetics again but this time it is with Stila and not MAC. WWD says the 2007 MAC Barbie line sold over $9 million worth of cosmetics in North America. Mattel's explanation for why they want to go with Stila and not MAC again is because they want to follow the same strategy they used with fashion designers, which was to do limited edition Barbies with each designer. That strategy applied to cosmetics should mean Barbie will apear in limited editions with different cosmetic brands.
So why not head back to MAC? Dickson said the decision was a matter of overall strategy. "We've had a history with the beauty industry, and in particular had a very successful partnership with MAC," she said. "Our cobranding strategy [with Barbie] has been to develop relationships in various different categories to create cultural noise and drive demand. In order to do that, you really do need to be limited and quick - keeping it innovative and limited has been part of the appeal of our products. For instance, we have a history of doing limited edition Barbies with fashion designers, and we follow the same strategy. We don't saturate the market. They come and go, and they keep the brand out there as a cultural thing."
The Stila Barbie cosmetics line will debut exclusively at Sephora in February and will be only available at Sephora's Fifth Avenue store in New York, international Sephora locations and at sephora.com. The collection features Beauty cans, lipsticks and eyeliners that reference Barbies from four different decades. The photograph above from WWD is the Stila Barbie collection that references Foxy Doll, an African-American Barbie launched in 1980.
The collection features four Decades of Beauty cans, each $40, with a booklet inside describing the beauty and fashion wardrobes for each doll. The first, #1 Ponytail Doll, celebrates the first Barbie, launched in 1959. It includes a red lipstick called Ponytail, a liquid eyeliner and a three-pan paper-wrapped compact with two eye shadows and a cheek color. Malibu Barbie, which highlights the doll of the same name that launched in 1971, has a pale pink Lip Glaze called Malibu, a black mascara and a compact with two eye shadows and a bronzer. Foxy Doll, which depicts the African-American Barbie launched in 1980, includes a Lip Glaze called Foxy, mascara and a compact with two eye shadows and a cheek color. The final offering, Jewel Doll, is based on the 2000 Barbie of the same name and includes a bright pink Lip Glaze called Jewel, a Multi-Effect Mascara and a compact with two eye shadows and a cheek color.
Stila will also be in charge of the cosmetics at the upcoming Barbie fashion show at New York Fashion Week which will include Barbie designs from fifty different fashion designer. The models wearing the Barbie designs will also all be wearing Barbie pink pumps from Christian Louboutin.
