By Allen Voivod
Need a reminder that hard work can lead to great heights? Look no further than Samantha Cristoforetti, an aviator, engineer, and astronaut with the European Space Agency (ESA). A couple of years ago, Mattel Italia partnered with ESA to make two one-of-a-kind dolls celebrating Cristoforetti's achievements and career, while also promoting awareness for The Barbie Dream Gap Project initiative.
Now, Barbie Signature is thrilled to honor Cristoforetti as a Barbie role model. Designer Carlyle Nuera led the team that has created a Samantha Cristoforetti Barbie Doll for Barbie fans of all ages, and especially girls who may be interested in space science.
Carlyle is known for both high-drama couture designs as well as deeply researched authentic apparel re-creations, and we asked him whether one or the other presents more of a challenge. He says, "They’re just two different kinds of challenges!" The existence of a previous doll – even a one-of-a-kind (OOAK) doll – may also make the design of a new doll that much easier, but there will always be elements to refine.
"We initially did two OOAKS of Samantha a couple of years ago, recreating her space suit and her blue jumpsuit in every detail," Carlyle recalls. "The challenge for this production doll was to keep the vibe of her spacesuit, but still make it manufacturable. We used a coated fabric to mimic the look and feel of what real spacesuits are made of. We kept the three patches that really signified her real spacesuit; the NASA extra vehicular activity (EVA) Vitruvian Man patch on her right arm (based on a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci from the late 15th century); the European Space Agency (ESA) patch with tiny flags on the front; and the Italian flag on the left arm."
The new ESA Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti Barbie Doll is ready for liftoff in her spacesuit, with gloves, helmet, and space boots. The doll is sculpted to Cristoforetti's likeness, and we asked Carlyle for more details about how facial sculpts for real-life people in particular are created.
"Sometimes we get to meet the real-world person, they might come for a tour of the design office, or we might get to visit the set of a movie, for example," Carlyle explains. "Usually, whoever we work with will send us photos, but I still do research to find more photos and videos in all angles and lighting situations, to really get a sense of what the person looks like.
"We have such a big ‘library’ of face sculpts with all kinds of features, so for Samantha, I started with one that looked like her, and the face designer painted her specific eye shape, eyebrow shape, lip shape, distance of the eyebrow to the eye, etc. Samantha also has a signature cropped hair style, so I worked with one of our hair designers to pick the right hair color blend and to translate the cut into something we could manufacture."
The doll box is designed for display, but if you want to remove the Cristoforetti doll from the box, the packaging includes a doll stand, and her doll body is articulated for dynamic poses. You'll find a Certificate of Authenticity inside the packaging as well.
The Barbie Signature Role Models Samantha Cristoforetti ESA Astronaut Doll is part of our Black Label series of dolls, available for $30 in the online shop. At her debut, there will be a limit of two (2) dolls per person, so as many Barbie fans can add her to their collections. (This limit is subject to change at a later date.)
Reflecting on this project, Carlyle adds, "In my research, I watched a lot of videos of her on YouTube. What was most fascinating to me were the videos where she shows how she performs regular everyday tasks in space; things like washing her hair, brushing her teeth and making herself a snack (which is more than that freeze dried Styrofoam-like ice cream I had as a kid). Those kinds of videos really humanized what it means to be an astronaut and live on a space station."
Carlyle brought that deeper understanding to bear on the creation of the Samantha Cristoforetti Barbie Doll, to help fulfill the idea that imagining you can be anything is an important beginning, and actually seeing it can make all the difference. Girls need more role models like Cristoforetti, and you can bring her into a girl's life by getting the Samantha Cristoforetti Barbie Doll today in the online shop.
ESA name and ESA logotype are registered trademarks of the European Space Agency (ESA).
This product is developed in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) for the purpose of fostering children’s interest in space science. ESA is not involved in the manufacturing and commercialization of this product. Neither ESA nor the astronaut receive any royalties from the sale of this product.
-
2
Recommended Comments
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.