News has broken that this year's cover model for the annually anticipated Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition is none other than the disproportionately endowed blonde we know and love as Barbie.
For the 50th Anniversary issue Mattel teamed up with SI for the cover shoot and 4 page interior article which features a 1959 vintage Barbie doll in her classic black and white chevron suit, a new limited edition Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Barbie Doll in a contemporary version of the black and white bathing suit and a spread of 17 dolls from Mattel's Barbie Basics collection.
The partnership between the two brands includes the four-page advertising feature in the magazine, video clips; a cover wrap that will appear on 1,000 copies of the issue, declaring Barbie to be “The Doll That Started It All”; a limited-edition Sports Illustrated Barbie, to be sold exclusively on Target.com; and a beach-themed party on Monday night in Lower Manhattan.
Feelings are mixed about the doll gracing the cover, but that's no surprise given that both Barbie and SI have long been criticized about their unrealistic portrayals of women.
The dolls were shot by photographer Walter Iooss, who has shot many of the scantily clad SI Swimsuit models of the past.
The set:
Prepping the new doll:
Shooting the dolls:
Selecting the images for the feature:
The final Cover:
One of the four interior pages:
Here's a video look at the actual shoot, with lots of tongue-in-cheek references as to how well Barbie takes direction:
Information courtesy of SI and Mattel.
Sports Illustrated
Mattel