Anita Dongre’s Barbie as a Diwali gift: How the famous fashion doll got a Indian makeover

“Representation really matters,” says Dongre, one of India’s leading fashion designers. She recalls receiving a heartfelt video from a fan in New York: “She gifted the doll to her daughter and said, ‘I can give my daughter a doll that looks like me. You have no idea what this means.’”

Mettel Inc, the parent company behind Barbie, approached Dongre a year and a half ago to collaborate on the project. Dongre viewed it as an opportunity to showcase India’s creativity on a global stage. “India has always been seen as a manufacturing hub, but it never got its due for creativity and design—we’re the creators of the best textiles,” she says. This project, she adds, allowed her “to showcase the country and take Indian fashion to every corner of the world.”

This isn’t Mattel’s first attempt at an “Indian” Barbie. After the 1991 New Economic Policy, they launched the familiar blonde-haired, blue-eyed Barbie in India. A few years later, they introduced an Indian version with brown skin and black hair, wearing either a bright saree or a salwar kameez, but it failed to resonate with the Indian audience. This might explain why they brought on board Dongre, a designer known not only for her couture but also her accessible retail brands like AND and Global Desi.

The Barbie Signature Diwali Doll

Discussing the design process, Dongre explains that her goal was to create a Barbie that was quintessentially Indian yet contemporary.

“Every time India is represented globally or in pop culture, it’s often clichéd,” Dongre observes. “I wanted this Barbie to reflect what Indian girls are wearing today—cool, fashionable, but still rooted in India. The design is unmistakably Indian, but the silhouette is contemporary. For example, the jacket is inspired by the Rajasthani koti, but it has a modern twist. Barbie is a fashion icon, so the outfit had to be truly stylish and relevant.”

Completing the doll’s look is a tiny red bindi, golden chandbalis, and a few gold kadas. Sharing that the team brainstormed extensively on the jewellery choices, Dongre explains, “We went back and forth; some pieces just weren’t practical for production. I’m glad we settled on chandbalis and kadas—classics that every Indian girl should have. Paired with gold stilettos, they complete any look.”

Designing for a doll, Dongre admits, was different from working with celebrities or real people. “The scale is smaller, so we had to learn how to render designs that still looked good at that size. The production took about a year, and it was a fun learning process,” says Dongre, whose clients include stars like Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor, and Priyanka Chopra. Asked about her inspiration for the project, she says it wasn’t one person, but modern India itself. “The women who shop at my stores, the cool young girls who enjoy wearing Indian clothes.”