The Ilona Maher Barbie is Here, and the Reviews are Mixed

Our queen Ilona Maher, the body-positive, wildly athletic, hysterically funny, successful role model we've been needing can add one more line item to her resume: Barbie inspiration.

Mattel just released a version of the iconic doll to resemble Maher, and that's something we've been needing. Maher is a famously body-positive athlete (who could forget the time she went viral for rightfully pointing out that BMI is a flawed health metric?).

According to a post announcing this release, Mattel created an all-new body sculpt to make this doll. They made the prototypical "Barbie body shape" (which has been rightfully called out as highly unrealistic) more representative of an athlete's body shape, including defined muscles, a sculpted core, and an altered torso shape. ?

I love this, particularly as the mom of a Barbie-loving little girl. 

But some people have been critical. "This Barbie is NOT built like a rugby athlete," one person commented on the Instagram post announcing the doll. Why did yall make her skinny? Where is her MUSCLE? This is disrespectful," another added.

And listen...the people have a point. This is progress, though. And I can't wait to get my hands on this doll for my own little Barbie fan in fall of 2026.

Ask Clara: What is body positivity?