Barbie is one of the most iconic names in the history of children's toys.
And while Barbie has undergone many changes over the years since she was first created in 1959, she continues to entertain, shape, and inspire young children around the globe even today.
In April of 2015, Mattel created its amazing, one-of-a-kind "Shero" campaign, in an effort to honor six famous, real-life women who, according to their press release, "have broken boundaries, challenged gender norms and proven girls can be anything they want to be."
In honor of these six "sheroes," Mattel created a doll in the likeness of each woman, and declared April 27th "National Shero Day."
And while these dolls were not created with the intention of selling them in stores, Mattel recently announced a change of plans.
The people at Barbie have received such an incredible outpouring of support and interest in purchasing one of these particular "sheroes," that they decided to do something extraordinary.
Scroll through below to see the dolls of these six female role models, and how one of them actually made her way into children's lives.
[H/T MTV News, Hollywood Reporter, CNN]
Since 1959, Barbie has been making large waves, greatly influencing the lives of children across the globe.
Over the years, Barbie has held a number of different jobs, showing young girls that they really can be anything they want to be.
In April 2015, Mattel and Barbie honored six incredible women with Barbie doll versions of themselves.
The women honored were Ava DuVernay, director of the film Selma</em>; Emmy Rossum, actress and singer; Sydney Keiser, five-year-old fashion designer; Eva Chen, editor-in-chief of Lucky Magazine</em>; Kristin Chenoweth, actress and singer; and Trisha Yearwood, country music artist and celebrity chef.
The doll for each of these women was auctioned off to raise money for charity.
However, months later, one of these dolls is being resurrected.
The doll created in the likeness of Selma director Ava DuVernay inspired a massive amount of support on social media, with people everywhere asking for her doll to be made available for purchase.
The large amount of support for Ava comes as no surprise. In addition to her human rights work, the groundbreaking artist was the first female African-American director to direct a film nominated for the "Best Picture" Oscar. Ava is not only a talented filmmaker, but also a true role model and cultural icon.
Incredibly, after months of excitement on social media from her fans, Mattel decided to manufacture the Ava DuVernay doll for sale in limited quantity.
On December 6, 2015, Ava tweeted, "Tomorrow this Ava Barbie goes on sale for Christmas because enough folks asked Mattel to do so."
She went on to announce that the proceeds would go to benefit two different organizations: Color of Change, a civil rights advocacy group, and Witness, a non-profit that focuses on human rights.
But in an even more incredible twist, the story of the Ava Barbie didn't end there.
After being on sale for only 26 minutes, the dolls completely sold out on Mattel's website!
Ava tweeted, "Sold out on Barbie collection, I'm told. More available on Amazon."
But minutes later, Amazon sold out as well, with Barbie's Twitter account writing, "We're excited to share that the [Ava] Barbie doll has sold out! Thank you all for your excitement and making this [collaboration] such a success!"
All six of these amazing "sheroes" are absolute inspirations.
And Ava DuVernay's profound influence on the world has led to the creation (and selling out) of a whole new kind of Barbie – a true Christmas miracle indeed.
Perhaps Twitter user ambreignslee put it best when she tweeted, "Ava Barbie is so amazing. Proud Mattel is letting millions of girls see they can be anything they want."
What do you think of these amazing "shero" Barbies? Would you give one of these to a child in your life? Let us know in the comments.
Please SHARE these incredible "shero" Barbies with friends and family!
