Barbie Rolling Out Dolls To Honor Venus Williams And Other Athletes

Mattel is honoring star athletes this month who have “broken boundaries” and encouraged girls to stay in sports. The company announced that they’re making Barbie dolls depicting the U.S. tennis star Venus Williams and eight other athletes.

The others being depicted as dolls by the brand are gymnasts Rebeca Andrade and Alexa Moreno, soccer players Mary Fowler and Christine Sinclair, boxer Estelle Mossely, swimmer Federica Pellegrini, paratriathlete Susana Rodriguez, and track and field sprinter Ewa Swoboda.

These "one-of-a-kind Role Model dolls" are part of a Barbie program aimed at "leveling the playing field for girls globally, in sports and beyond" and to "close the gap that comes between girls and their full potential," according to a company statement announcing the toys ahead of the Paris Olympic Games.

Walmart is releasing exclusive content from Barbie Role Model honorees Katya Echazarreta and Venus Williams on social and digital channels, complemented by in-store Barbie displays nationwide under the theme “65 Years of Inspiration, Dreams Made Here.” This includes new products across toy, apparel, accessories, sporting goods, and food and beverage categories.

Meanwhile, Target is contributing a $65,000 donation to The Dream Gap Project, with part of the donation directed to Girl Talk, an organization dedicated to inspiring girls to become leaders through peer-to-peer mentoring programs. Target guests can shop an exclusive assortment of Barbie-themed apparel for girls, explore the new Barbie Fashionistas collection inspired by iconic looks from the past decades, and view exclusive behind-the-scenes content from Target designers at target.com/barbie.

Additionally, Amazon is featuring a Barbie 65th Brand Shop with a range of Barbie-themed products, including toys and apparel. Lastly, Mattel Creations is launching a capsule collection inspired by iconic Barbie looks from 1959 onward, with new items released monthly, including exclusive 65th-anniversary items like UNO Canvas Barbie, apparel, accessories, and more.

To encourage girls to stay in sports, Barbie is extending its partnership with VOICEINSPORT. This global digital platform connects and inspires girls and women in sports through mentorship, educational content, and expert services to help support and empower the next generation of women leaders in sports to thrive.

The company said that through this partnership, Barbie and VOICEINSPORT will host inspirational virtual mentoring sessions with Barbie Role Models on the VOICEINSPORT platform, which is designed to encourage girls to pursue their interest in sports. The sessions will be free to attend and continue into 2025. Girls in sports ages 12+ may sign up at https://voiceinsport.com/barbie to unlock the free mentoring with Barbie Role Models and educational content.

"As a young girl and now a mother of a young girl in sports, unlocking access to professional athlete mentors on the VOICEINSPORT platform with Team Barbie is a dream come true,” said Stef Strack, Founder of VOICEINSPORT. “We built VOICEINSPORT to bring more visibility to women athletes globally so that girls around the world would be inspired to dream big and build confidence to stay in the game.”