After another weekend spent unpacking, I'm still in escapist mode so I thought I'd share pictures from the Malibu Barbie Dream Showhouse that Jonathan Adler designed in honor of the iconic doll's 50th birthday. When I first read back in March about Adler's send-up to my favorite childhood toy, I was so excited to see what Adler would come up with. After all, Adler's bright, energetic and none-too-serious style seems like a perfect fit for the archetypal girly-girl. Fortunately, pictures of the project are finally available in Adler's portfolio and it's exactly as you'd expect the brainchild of Adler and Mattel to look: it's very pink, very bold, a little bit mod and a little bit trashy. In short, it's perfectly Barbie. My 8-year old self would have given her right arm to get to live in something half as fabulous.
There are also great tongue-in-cheek moments here from Adler, with chandeliers made from blond Barbie hair, accent chairs bedecked in ballerina tutus and a sunburst mirror made of vintage Barbies. My favorite moment though has to be the giant pink poodles flanking either side of the fireplace -- such a fantastic riff on the white greyhounds that have become all but omnipresent the past few years.
If you'd like to capture a little bit of Barbie's magic in your own home, Mattel is selling some special limited edition items commerating the collaboration with Adler, a selection of which are below:
My personal favorites are the black and white (and pink!) canisters with the hilarious labels like "eyelashes" and "peroxide", but the hot pink lacquerware is great fun, too. All items are available for sale HERE beginning September 20.
Image credits: Jonathan Adler, Mattel.
