By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
Mattel, Inc. and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) have announced a partnership to create new products inspired by the museum’s prodigious art collection.
“MoMA has long championed the transformative power of art and design as a catalyst for education and creativity,” said Jesse Goldstine, Chief Retail Officer at MoMA. “By joining forces with Mattel Creations, we are inviting a generation of new audiences to experience the Museum’s collection in ways that merge contemporary art with creative play and design innovation.”
The collaboration brings together a leading global toy and family entertainment company with a leading global cultural institution.
To launch the partnership, Mattel Creations, the company’s design-driven, direct-to-consumer platform, will launch its first capsule of seven products inspired by MoMA’s collection this holiday season.
In addition, Mattel will sponsor The Museum of Modern Art’s Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Family Art Lab and its programs. The Family Art Lab is an interactive space where kids and adults experiment, play, and create as they explore the ideas, tools, and techniques of modern and contemporary art.
“This collaboration is more than a product launch, it is a global design partnership,” said Nick Karamanos, SVP of Entertainment Partnerships, Mattel. “Through Mattel Creations, we have been reimagining our brands as collectible, design-led experiences.
“Partnering with MoMA enables us to translate some of the world’s most iconic artworks and artists into amazing expressions of culture, design, and storytelling that will resonate with collectors and fans for years to come.”
The capsule collection will debut November 11 on Mattel Creations, store.moma.org and at MoMA Design Stores in New York and Japan. This initial launch spans several of Mattel’s most iconic brands, each reinterpreting masterpieces from MoMA’s renowned collection.
The new capsule collections includes:
- Barbie x Vincent van Gogh — A collectible Barbie doll inspired by The Starry Night, featuring a gown patterned after the painting’s swirling skies, a crescent moon detail in her curls, and sculpted heels inspired by the landscape’s rolling hills.
- Hot Wheels x Jaguar E-Type Roadster — A die-cast replica of the “most beautiful car ever made,” honoring the aerodynamic design that stunned the world in the 1960s and cemented its place in MoMA’s collection.
- Hot Wheels x Citroën DS 23 Sedan — A die-cast inspired by the iconic French design object, celebrated for its futuristic body and groundbreaking suspension system.
- UNO x MoMA — A first-ever MoMA Edition of the classic card game, featuring six iconic artworks from the collection, including works by Sonia Delaunay, Henri Matisse, Piet Mondrian, Claude Monet, Liubov Popova and Vincent van Gogh each tied to UNO’s signature colors and gameplay.
- Magic 8 Ball x Alma Woodsey Thomas — A reimagined Magic 8 Ball inspired by Thomas’s vibrant abstract work, Untitled,and nine custom inspirational phrases such as “Color is Life!”.
- Little People Collector x Salvador Dalí — A surrealist-inspired figure set, including a playful self-portrait of Dalí and a piece inspired by The Persistence of Memory.
- Little People Collector x Claude Monet — A set inspired by Monet’s Water Lilies, including one figure of Claude Monet himself and the other figure a canvas that puts Monet into the vibrant piece of art that he’s created.
The partners say this collaboration underscores Mattel Creations’ role as a platform for design-forward innovation, and MoMA’s commitment to redefining how audiences around the world engage with and connect to the art of our time.
To learn more about the collaboration, visit Mattel Creations and store.moma.org.