Mattel Announces Barbie With Wheelchair and Prosthetic Leg

Mattel announced new additions to the Fashionista line on February 11, adding Barbies with braided hair textures, new body types, and disabilities. Barbie will now have a wheelchair, and another doll will have a removable prosthetic leg. While the line has added more than 100 new looks over the past few years to make its stock increasingly diverse — like the young people who play with Barbies — the latest additions are a direct response to what Barbie fans want.

"We’re going to be introducing a doll in a wheelchair and a doll representing physical disabilities. She has a prosthetic limb," Kim Culmone, Mattel's vice president of Barbie Design, told Teen Vogue. "[There will be] additional body sizes — a Barbie with a smaller bust and less-defined waist. A wheelchair or doll in a wheelchair was one of the most requested items through our consumer ... hotline. It's important to us to listen to our consumers."


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