United Colors of Benetton

 If you're a certain age, you surely remember the ubiquitous United Colors of Benetton ads from the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

The bright primary colors, the diversity on the page, the quirky yet stylish fashion. I loved the ads, but the clothes were much too urban, cool, ...expensive for me and my high school vibe. I remember the "cool" girls in my class all dressing in simple primary color t-shirts and standing together for the senior class picture so they were easy to pick out. Keep in mind, it was also a short year or two before the grunge revolution which was much more my style heading to college.

While Benetton fashion was not in my world, Benetton Barbies were, of course 

My mom had two different male friends who traveled to London semi-regularly. One was a theatre director and went to see the shows. The other owned a travel agency and visited London for work. They were both game to engage in my Barbie fandom in the era. (not to stereotype, but one was openly gay and I think loved the Barbies as much as I did :) ) Whenever they came back from a trip they would have a doll or two for me to add to my collection. Sometimes I would send a request and sometimes they would pick something out on their own. I have to think the Benetton dolls were a specific request because it allowed me to complete the full collection which was difficult to do in the States. And we didn't have a Benetton store in my hometown and traveling (more than 30 miles to the doll store up the road) to buy Barbies was not part of my world.

 

I'm not sure which is my favorite but I'm leaning towards Kira or Ken. Her fabulous tights and long socks and his jaunty scarf scream 80s! And I'll just leave you to marvel at his truly exceptional jacket and orange pants. 

This was also the era of thinking about the image Barbie presented. All of the dolls have flat shoes rather than heels, a sign of shifting fashion norms away from the high-powered, high-heeled, business woman style earlier in the decade. 

And from a marketing perspective, it is interesting that the front of every box says Barbie, but the top of the lid says the name of the doll inside. My British doll is Teresa.  Some of the other dolls were sold as Marina. In this era Mattel attempted to diversify both their dolls and the way they were marketed depending on the country where they were sold. Teresa was the "hispanic" doll, Kira the "Asian" and Christie the "African American" friend. 

Yes, the world has changed in the past 34 years. But I think I've seen those primary-colored striped sweaters when I've been out this winter.