*Tina Turner has joined the list of artists inducted into Barbie’s Signature Music Series. The doll, which was released on October 13, “commemorates her smash hit ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It,’” according to Mattel.
The Tina Barbie is adorned with an outfit that was “inspired by the iconic outfit” the Grammy-winner and “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll” wore in the 1984 hit’s music video: a denim jacket over a black mini-dress, sheer black tights, white drop earrings, and black heels.
The doll has a blondish and light brown lioness mane — a reflection of Turner’s signature hairstyle. It also has a microphone and doll stand, celebrating the still gorgeous 82-year-old icon’s legendary musical career. It was designed by Bill Greening.
“This is my first doll in the current collection, though I worked on a series called ‘Ladies of the 80s’ back in 2010,” Greening said in a posted statement. “Let’s just say Tina has been on my wish list for a very long time. We started it right about the time she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”
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Greening also revealed that Turner herself was involved in the design process and that the ‘What’s Love’ look was the choice from the start.
“As a Gen Xer, MTV was a big influence in my pre-teen and teen years. ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It’ and ‘Let’s Stay Together’ was our introduction to Tina, for kids of my generation. ‘What’s Love’ was such a huge hit, the video was on MTV constantly! The song and iconic look really defined Tina’s ’80s comeback to me,” Greening added. “I think the costume is very authentic to the video, and there’s lots of nice detailing on the denim jacket. The ‘leather’ skirt, black top, tights, and black ’80s heels really complete the ‘tough’ look.”
On how Mattel/Barbie got Turner’s hair accurate, the designer said they used a lot of screen grabs [from the music video] to see the hair at all angles. He added that the hair team did lots of trials to get the style and color just right, and lots of teasing and hairspray were involved.
Despite what the critics may say, the Tina Turner Barbie retails for $55 and is already sold out on the brand’s website and Mattel’s other retailers.
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