Barbie wedding gowns for grown-up Japanese brides

Barbie is having a hard time winning the hearts of Japanese children, so she's trying to charm grown-ups instead with a bridal collection full of bows, ruffles and gowns embroidered with the doll's logo.

The Barbie Bridal line, available in June, will only be sold in Japan, and is part Mattel Inc's attempts to bolster the Barbie brand in a country where the toy doll market is ruled by local rival Licca-chan.

"What's unique about Japan is that it's a very strong adult-apparel market," John Cullen, vice president of Mattel Brands, told the reporters during a visit to Tokyo to attend celebrations for Barbie's 50th birthday.

"We want to be where girls are... we want to create a fashion brand that appeals to girls in all generations," he added.

The bridal collection joins other clothing lines for adults that are only in sale in Japan such as the Barbie Golf collection.

Last year, a limited-edition collection of Barbie clothes and accessories by U.S. celebrity stylist Patricia Field, known for her work on hit TV series "Sex and the City" and "Ugly Betty," went on sale in Japan.

Cullen said Mattel was aiming to introduce more Barbie licensed products such as stationery and cosmetics in Japan as early as next year.

"Once our apparel brand is established, then we can go back to our core target, kids," he said, describing Mattel's business targeting Japanese adults "growing."

Despite Japan being one of the largest toy markets in the world, Mattel has always had a hard time marketing Barbie partly due to Tomy Co's Licca-chan, which has a Japanese body-type and facial features.

Barbie, with her Western looks and that infamously unrealistic body, was initially made in Japan and has sold some 1 billion units worldwide since she first hit U.S. shelves in 1959.

Licca-chan has sold 53 million units, mostly in Japan, in the past 42 years and her popularity has prompted companies such as Nissan Motor and East Japan Railway (JR East) use the doll in corporate and product promotions.

  　　 芭比新娘进军日本成年人市场

芭比娃娃似乎很难博得日本儿童的欢心，所以她打算吸引成年人的目光——一款包括领结、褶皱边和饰有芭比标识的礼服的芭比新娘系列不久将进军日本市场。

将于今年6月上市的芭比新娘系列将仅在日本销售。该系列的推出是芭比的“东家”美泰公司在日本市场推广芭比品牌举措的一部分。日本玩偶市场一直被当地竞争对手丽嘉娃娃占据。

美泰公司品牌部副总监约翰•库伦在东京参加芭比50周岁庆典期间接受记者采访时说：“日本的特殊之处在于其成年人服饰市场十分强大。”

他说：“哪里有女孩，我们就去哪里，我们希望打造一个每一代女孩都喜欢的时尚品牌。”

除新娘礼服系列外，还有其它一些仅在日本销售的芭比成年人服饰系列，如芭比高尔夫系列。

去年，一款由美国著名造型师帕特丽夏•菲尔德设计的芭比服饰和饰品限量版系列在日本销售。帕特丽夏曾为热映电视剧《欲望都市》和《丑女贝蒂》担纲造型指导。

库伦称，美泰公司最早将于明年在日本推出更多芭比品牌系列产品，如文具和化妆品等。

他说：“一旦我们的成年人服饰品牌站稳脚跟，我们将回头去开发我们的核心顾客群---儿童。”他称美泰公司针对日本成年人的业务“不断扩大”。

尽管日本是世界最大的玩具市场之一，但美泰公司在日本推广芭比娃娃却举步维艰，这一部分是由于来自多美公司生产的具有日本人体貌特征的丽嘉娃娃的竞争。

自1959年在美国上架销售以来，芭比娃娃在全球范围内销量已达约10亿个。芭比娃娃最初在日本制造，她有着西方人的外表，其不切实际的魔鬼身材曾遭到异议。

在过去42年中，丽嘉娃娃全球总销量为5300万个，其中大部分是在日本本土市场。她的人气吸引了日产汽车公司和东日本铁路公司等众多商家用它来推广公司和产品。