After last year’s success, Barbie revealed the second edition of its Day of the Dead doll which, in addition to remembering the loved ones who are not with us anymore, praises the sweet side of one of Mexico’s most popular traditions to make this visit a celebration.
This new doll aims to inspire people to enjoy each of the elements that comprise this tradition, such as candy and chocolate skulls, pan de muerto, and the colorful decorations that can be seen at every altar and market.
The new Barbie Day of the Dead 2020 is wearing the makeup of a traditional Catrina . This amazing beauty look perfectly interprets the nuances of the celebration that represents Mexico around the world.
The outfit consists of a pale pink dress with lace, pearl details, a cape embroidered with flowers, and golden streaks under her hair with a crown formed by skeleton hands that hold roses and daisies.
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Her face is painted like a traditional Catrina with very colorful elements that portray the details of the season and that make this dill into an amazing collector’s piece we cannot wait to have for ourselves.
Pay close attention to detail for both the outfit and the makeup are made with such an accuracy that anyone would wish to wear them on Day of the Dead . And you must not miss the shoes worn by the most fashionista Catrina you will see this year.
And speaking of details, another treasure is the Barbie Catrina’s box for it is decorated with iconic elements of this Mexican tradition and includes a description in English and Spanish about Día de Muertos .
This doll is part of the Signature line and is a tribute to what is considered a World Cultural Heritage. With this, the brand seeks to keep expanding its collector’s offer as well as fans of all ages and genders through editions of pop icons and role models through different exclusive editions with several interpretations of fashion, style, and beauty.
As you might remember, Barbie has already surprised us with previous editions based on figures like David Bowie, Lorena Ochoa, and others.
Barbie Day of the Dead Catrina is available in Mexico since September 2, and it will be available in all department stores and e-commerce starting on September 15.
La Catrina, Mexico's Grand Dame of the Death
Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico has become one of the most iconic festivities of this country and has even managed to cross borders and oceans—most prominently—in the figure of the elegant skeleton lady of La Catrina . Yet where does she come from?
The Calavera Catrina was born in 1912 from the imagination of Mexican artist José Guadalupe Posada, but that was not her name back then. Posada published the first illustration of this Great Dame of Death under the name of La Calavera Garbancera as a social criticism of the indigenous Mexican women who rejected their roots and tried to pass as European.
The engraver was famous for his satirical rhymes, illustrated with skulls and skeletons, which he used to describe the political and religious matters of Mexico, as well as aspects of daily life. Then how did she become La Catrina ?
It was Mexican painter Diego Rivera who took the work of Posada and gave it a body. Literally. In his mural "Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central" (1947) (“Dream of a Sunday Afternoon along Central Alameda”), Rivera painted the full-bodied skeleton lady as the central piece of his mural and called her La Catrina, the feminine version of the Catrin, a bon vivant dandy in Mexican culture.
In his mural, Diego Rivera featured the Catrina at the center, with a young version of himself on the left, and her creator, José Guadalupe Posada on the right.
It is due to the merger of Mexico's Prehispanic ideologies, the Mexican people historical focus on death —that is, their willingness to both laugh at it and embrace it with a loving familiarity—and the classism prevalent in the Mexican society, that the Catrina became the embodiment not only of death as a neutralizing force between the rich and the poor, but also, a powerful symbol of what the Day of the Death in Mexico is all about. And it is becoming famous worldwide.
Maybe it is a mixture of the colors, the satire, the meaning, and the evolving attitude towards death what have fixed this character as an icon, but regardless of the cause, it seems La Catrina is here to stay.
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