Reebok and Barbie Team Up for Collection

Reebok and Mattel’s Barbie brand have come together to debut a creative campaign inspired by the Barbie brand’s global mission, the Barbie Dream Gap Project, and release a full-family footwear and apparel collection timed to Barbie’s 65th Anniversary year. The Reebok x Barbie collection will be available globally beginning Sept. 20 from Reebok.com and select retailers. 

The creative highlights a young girl as she opens doors to different careers within the footwear industry, from product designer to marketer to chief executive officer, with each scene nodding to Barbie iconography.  

The Barbie x Reebok creative campaign is inspired by the Barbie Dream Gap Project, the Barbie brand’s global mission dedicated to challenging gender stereotypes and helping undo the biases that hold girls back from reaching their full potential. In 2018, Barbie launched the Barbie Dream Gap Project after discovering research from NYU that shows starting at age 5, many girls begin to develop self-limiting beliefs and think they’re not as intelligent and capable as boys. The Dream Gap for young girls still exists, but new NYU research shows the challenges don’t lie in girls lacking self-confidence or drive – the gaps often occur in the world around them. 

Accompanying the creative, the Reebok x Barbie product collection for kids and adults features an assortment of lifestyle and performance apparel and footwear items that fuse the Barbie color palettes with Reebok silhouettes and styles. The apparel assortment features details like novelty stitching, unique co-branding, debossed enamel snaps, bungees, toggles and more on pieces ranging from oversized track jackets, hoodies and wide-leg track pants to leggings, bike shorts, sports bras, crop tops and more. 

Related:Krispy Kreme Celebrates Barbie’s 65th Anniversary with Doughnut Collection

The Barbie x Reebok Graphic Tee is one of the marquee pieces of the collection, paying homage to a milestone in Barbie’s history of diversity and inclusion. The T-shirt features an image of the first Black Barbie, released in 1980, designed by Kitty Black Perkins, with an updated Reebok twist – subtle Reebok Vector logos on her signature earrings. 

Barbie x Reebok

Barbie x Reebok footwear highlights include the Barbie x Reebok Club C Extra, a platform Club C style with a tonal deboss and semi-gloss Barbie ‘B’s’ subtly adorning leather panels. This is paired with shine mesh detailing and light pink accents throughout and is available in women’s and kids’/toddler sizes. The Barbie x Reebok BB 4000 II, an allover black suede paired with patent leather side stripes, gives a twist to the retro-basketball silhouette born in the 1980s. Embroidered branding and contrast midsole stitching round out the design and unisex style, and the shoe is available in unisex adult and kids’/toddler sizes. The Barbie x Reebok FloatZig 1, a hot pink shoe with embossed and foiled branding, features performance Floatride Energy foam in the Zig-shape sole and is available in unisex adult sizing with additional Zig Dynamica 2.0 and Zig N’ Glow options available for kids/toddlers. 

“It’s so special to work with an iconic brand like Barbie that boasts a decades-long legacy in empowering girls to reach their limitless potential,” says Portia Blunt, senior vice president, global product, Reebok. “Together we’ve not only created a beautiful collection but are telling an important story through a unique creative campaign that highlights the barriers Black and Brown girls face within the footwear industry. Our partnership aims to inspire young girls to pursue their dreams with confidence because we know when you can see it, you believe you can be it. By leveraging the power of Barbie and Reebok’s global platforms we aspire to empower the next generation of changemakers within the footwear industry.” 

The Reebok x Barbie collection will be available globally beginning Sept. 20, from Reebok.com and select retailers.