The maker of Barbie, Mattel, has launched new doll designs to reflect a broader range of hairstyles, skin tones, and body types.
Mattel is branding it as the ‘most diverse doll line yet’ as a Barbie with vitiligo and a hairless Barbie was revealed on Tuesday, reports CNN.
Vitiligo is an autoimmune condition that causes loss of skin colour. Mattel said they worked with a dermatologist to make sure it was accurately represented.
Last year, the prototype of the vitiligo doll was the most 'liked post' on the company's Instagram.
The dolls are to be part of the Fashionista range, which has 176 dolls with 9 different body types, 35 skin tones, and 94 hairstyles. New additions being released throughout the year.
The manufacturer, Mattel says it has continued to revolutionise the Barbie doll to better reflect what girls see in their world today.
"For 2020, Barbie is continuing the journey to represent global diversity and inclusivity in the fashion doll aisle by showcasing a multi-dimensional view of beauty and fashion," a spokesperson for Mattel told CBS News.
Other dolls in the line include a Ken with long blonde hair and dolls with wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs to reflect girls with physical disabilities. There are also more dolls with realistic body types; curvey, petite and tall.
