I’m something of a francophile, so when the opportunity arose to write packaging copy for Barbie’s collaboration with legendary French designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, I jumped at the chance. What better way to blend my love of French culture, my admiration for avant-garde fashion, and my dream to wax poetic on the back of a Barbie box? Some projects just feel tailor-made for you, and this one challenged me to write with all the whimsy, joy, and artistry that is characteristic of Castelbajac himself.

See below for my essay I mean, my packaging prose! I wrote the same for the Ken doll.

“By creating these powerful looks inspired by my career, I wanted to invite Barbie and Ken into my playful and colourful universe, to celebrate art and fashion.” —Jean-Charles de Castelbajac

Red, yellow, blue: the unmistakable signature of French artist and designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. Just as the three primary colors are the origin of every other hue, so too have they been a constant in Castelbajac’s work for decades, taking form across mediums in gorgeous arcs, lines, and shapes. His joyful pop art world is one where art, fashion, and design converge in a vibrant collage.

Barbie® doll’s look embodies this fusion. As if hugged by a multitude of plush paws, she wears a fuzzy teddy bear coat in Castelbajac’s quintessential palette. Beneath, a turtleneck dress catches the eye with all the bold graphics, whimsy, and playful drawings that are characteristic of a Castelbajac original. Paired with cream tights and denim boots, her look is at once mod and modern.

émerveiller: to marvel and fill with wonder

To encounter a Castelbajac piece is to be transported into childlike wonder. Nowhere is this truer than with his iconic teddy bear coat. First debuting in 1987 and reinvented ever since, the teddy bear coat turned a toy into a couture statement. For Barbie® doll to wear one is to enter Castelbajac’s world, where nostalgia and pop culture meet high design. Barbie® and the teddy bear — symbols of childhood — are reimagined in a beautiful expression of how the most artistic act may simply be letting one’s inner child come out and play.