A crowdfunding campaign was launched on Thursday in a bid to get an ‘average-looking’ doll to market.
American Artist Nickolay Lamm, 24, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, created a prototype of a plastic figurine last summer based on government measurements of an average 19-year-old American woman.
Now, in a bid to turn his idea into a reality he is appealing for funds via his website Lammily.com. In less than 24 hours, he has already raised more than $28,000 towards his $95,000 goal.
His aim is to produce 5,000 ‘Lammily’ dolls ready to ship out in November 2014.
Each model features average proportions of a typical 19-year-old girl (32-31-33), a light amount of make-up, and bendy joints.
If the dolls are a success, he plans to extend the range to ’embrace diversity, from race to body type.’
In his research, Ms Lamm found that, scaled up to human size, Barbie dolls would have unrealistic measurements of 36-18-33, compared with the typical 19-year-old girl’s 32-31-33.
Thanks to her ultra-slender measurements, it has been estimated that, if she were to exist as a human, Barbie would weigh about 110lbs and would have a BMI of 16.24.
This would fit the weight criteria for anorexia.
Mr Lamm’s hope is to promote a more positive body image to children.
‘I wanted to show that average is beautiful. Rather than waiting for change to happen, let’s be the change,’ he says in a YouTube video for his crowdfunding campaign.
He concludes: ‘[It’s] so that our girls can grow up to become happier, stronger women, truly confident and proud in their own bodies.’
