Moschino dares to feature a boy as star of its Barbie doll video ad

Those who thought that Barbie dolls were exclusively for girls may soon be changing opinion. Moschino's Creative Director Jeremy Scott has chosen a young boy as the protagonist in a video ad for Barbie Moschino, the Mattel doll created in collaboration with the Milan fashion label.

The decision seems set to smash the taboos and stereotypes which continue to make the world's most famous doll an exclusive prerogative of the feminine world.

It's a first in Mattel's history: a boy playing with a Barbie doll. The video has already been viewed by more than two million visitors on YouTube, and shows the boy eagerly proclaiming that "Barbie is extraordinary" while playing with the doll's accessories. In the end, this isn't all that surprising. Over the course of more than 50 years, the Barbie doll has mirrored society's aesthetic and cultural evolution.

"I'm so happy for the good reception and the attention paid to my ad," the designer stated on Instagram. "For me, it was natural for the advert to show a boy playing with a Barbie doll, just as girls do. I particularly appreciated the debate initiated by the ad, about the gender neutrality of toys. I believe we should let children play happily because, after all, play is childhood's equivalent of work."