Frida Kahlo’s family protest over Barbie doll without unibrow
Mexican artist’s relations threaten to sue Mattel over ‘unauthorised’ toy they say does not resemble her
RELATIONS of Frida Kahlo, the Mexican artist, are threatening legal action to stop the sale of a Barbie doll created in her image which they say does not have her famous unibrow and was produced without permission.
Mattel, an American toy company, announced the Frida doll this week as part of an “Inspiring Women” series that includes Amelia Earhart, the pilot, and Katherine Johnson, the Africanamerican Nasa mathematician.
Mara Romeo Pinedo, Kahlo’s grand niece, and Mara de Anda Romeo, her daughter, have threatened legal action. “They do not have authorisation to use her image,” said Ms de Anda Romeo.
Ms de Anda Romeo said her objections stemmed from a “sense of responsibility” she feels about guarding the painter’s legacy, more than 60 years after her death.
The doll, she added, neither reflects Kahlo’s physical characteristics nor her Mexican nationality. “You don’t turn a doll into Frida Kahlo by putting flowers in its hair and giving it a colourful dress. It doesn’t have a real Mexican costume. It doesn’t have an unibrow.”
Pablo Sangri, a lawyer for the family, said his client doesn’t seek money, but wants Mattel to talk about redesigning.
“We will talk to them about regularising this situation, and by regularising I mean talking about the appearance of the doll, its characteristics, the history of the doll should have to match what the artist really was,” Mr Sangri told AP.
Mattel says it agreed the rights to produce the doll with the Frida Kahlo Corporation, which was founded in Panama in 2005.
“Mattel has a legally binding deal with the Frida Karlo Corporation that owns the rights to the Frida Kahlo brand worldwide,” said Michelle Chidoni, Mattel vice-president.
The corporation, which is separate from the family, said it received rights from Isolda Pinedo Kahlo, the painter’s niece, who died in 2007.
Ms Romeo Pinedo and Ms de Anda Romeo say the family have been trying to dissolve the corporation for years through the courts.
‘You don’t turn a doll into Frida Kahlo by putting flowers in its hair and giving it a colourful dress’
Beatriz Alvarado, a corporation spokesman, accused the family of
“greed” yesterday.
“They don’t want to respect a signed agreement for which they received money,” she told Radio Fórmula. “They want to usurp the success of the Frida Kahlo Corporation.”
Barbie is an American icon that has often been criticised as promoting an unrealistic body image and consumerist lifestyle.
Kahlo was a lifelong communist who died in 1954, just before the Barbie doll was introduced in 1959.