PS: What went through your head when you heard Mattel was making a Barbie after you?
ZC: That was awesome. It was incredible. First of all, my first initial reaction of working with Barbie was, "I don't know if that makes a lot of sense for me because I like to celebrate different types of beauty and Barbie has just only been very one-tiered." I never had a Barbie when I grew up. It was not something I could connect to. And they were like, "We know, we understand. That's what we're trying to do. We're trying to diversify. We're trying to break those barriers down."
Then they came to me with the whole idea of making my Oscars look — that was their idea, not even mine. They were so cool about it.
When I went to a Barbie store, I was like, "Look at the signage, it's just the same old Barbie. If I were younger, I wouldn't see myself up there. I don't see anything that makes sense for me." They were like, "You know what? Send us everything. We want you to give us all your feedback. We love hearing about that."
They actually made those changes. I literally went to the airport to come here, and I was like "Dad, look. The sign — it's changed." There are different Barbies now. You've got the blonde, the black, and the Asian. And they're all Barbie! That's very cool.
