Taiwan town preserves Barbie doll's legacy

More than two decades since the last Barbie rolled off the assembly line in Taiwan, nostalgic former factory workers are preserving her memory by tailoring exquisite dresses for the iconic doll.

For these women, making the outfits is a labour of love, recalling the days when the plant run by US toymaker Mattel was a major employer in the northern town of Taishan, near capital Taipei.

Chou Su-chin smiles as she thinks about her first job. She left the island's impoverished southern countryside to sign up at the factory when she was 18.

"I'd never seen anything as beautiful as Barbie. I loved the dolls so much," the 59-year-old said, adding with a hint of sadness: "I really miss my job."

In its heyday the factory supported one in every three Taishan residents, and during the 1960s and 70s the community prospered as exports soared. The era coincided with Taiwan's transformation from a rural society into a rich industrialised one.

Today, the Meining workshop set up by the former workers close to the original factory displays around 100 hand-sewn dresses modelled by Barbie dolls, for which the dressmakers have drawn inspiration from Taiwanese and Chinese culture.

The dresses, which are for sale, include a regal gown inspired by Wu Zetian, a woman who ruled China around 700 A.D., as well as a range of outfits based on Taiwan's five first ladies.

The doll-sized wardrobes of clothes for Taiwan's first ladies feature a suit for Wu Shu-chen, together with miniature jewellery and a wheelchair.