A shrine to Barbie in Montreal: find out why

A Bob Mackie creation for Barbie, among the most spectacular at Barbie Expo.

In all, the new Barbie Expo at Les Cours Mont Royal, which opens to the public free of charge Feb. 11, boasts more than 1,000 dolls in a 5,000-square-foot space with a central fountain and several installations, including a runway show, an I Love Lucy celebration, and scenes from New York and Vegas.

But why, in this day and age when the very name Barbie raises hackles, would the central downtown mall mount an exhibition dedicated to Barbie?

“Because she is an iconic fashion doll,” says Valerie Law, VP of marketing for Soltron, the owners of the mall.

The team decided to build the Barbie exhibition to draw visitors and attention– because Les Cours is a high-end fashion mall.

“It’s a good fit,” Law said. “We wanted to be the talk of the town.”

Indeed, the timing could not be better for chatter about Barbie, created in 1959 by Mattel and since the early days, a conduit for criticism – for her unreal shape, her blond hair and blue eyes, and the perception that she was nothing but a clothes hanger, although she was a businesswoman in 1963, and an astronaut in 1965.

In late January, Mattel tweaked her figure, perhaps its biggest move ever for the doll, introducing three new shapes – tall, petite and curvy. The move garnered a Time magazine cover with the headline, “Now can we stop talking about my body?”

Of course, everybody is still talking, but Law is not concerned about the criticism, although she acknowledges the disproportionate figure of the original doll. “It created a false dream for younger girls,” she said.

The expo does not have the new dolls – yet. They would like to have them, Law added. Mattel is not involved in the show, and a team of curators worked for two years collecting Barbies from around the world.

“It’s a celebration of haute couture,” Law said.

Indeed, make no mistake about it: the clothes are the draw. And they are spectacular, from the extravagant headdresses and gowns of the Mackie creations to the miniature Chanel and Burberry coats.

Pressed as to why Les Cours mounted the show, Law said it wanted to draw attention to Montreal as a fashion city.

Barbie fashions do not reflect Montreal, she acknowledged, but Law said local designers have been invited to the show and that perhaps they would be asked to create designs for the dolls.

Admission to Barbie Expo is free, but visitors are invited to make a donation to the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Quebec, which grants wishes to sick children.