Remember last year when a doll was created to show us what Barbie would look like were she a real woman? Well, the guy behind that project is turning the ‘real person’ doll idea into a reality.
Nikolay Lamm, a 25-year-old artist and researcher, was so inspired by the conversation created by ‘normal Barbie’ that he set out to create a doll to be made available in stores. Lamm invented ‘Lammily’ using measurements based on the average 19-year-old American female.
In a video created to accompany a fund-raising project to get the doll manufactured, Lamm says current doll brands will never change, so ‘rather than waiting for change to happen, let’s be the change… so that our girls can grow up to be happier, stronger women, truly confident and proud in their own bodies’.
Lammily ‘promotes a healthy lifestyle, is fit and strong’ and wears an average outfit of a shirt, denim shorts and white sneakers. We actually have worn that outfit many times. She really is real!
Lamm set out to raise $95,000 (around £56,000) in one month, and considering his project has already raised $182,000 in one day, it’s safe to say this is already a resounding success.
Supporters of the project will receive a first edition of the doll for $25, and it will ship internationally, so girls the world over can enjoy Lammily alongside their American counterparts. Beyond this first edition, Lamm hopes to expand the line to embrace diversity in race and body type.
His video is so inspiring, and the overall feeling that one person can change young girls unrealistic perceptions of beauty is so inspiring, why it just about made our hearts soar.
Mattel must be kicking themselves.
Pictures: Nikolay Lamm
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.