Filipino artist Carlyle Nuera designs Naomi Osaka doll
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#PinoyPride! Know more about Pinoy Barbie designer Carlyle Nuera and the Naomi Osaka doll.
Talented Filipinos continue to excel in different fields and serve as inspiration to many. One of them is Barbie Lead Designer at Mattel, Carlyle Nuera, who designed the recently released Barbie doll of tennis star Naomi Osaka.
The Naomi Osaka Barbie was originally created as an OOAK (one of a kind) doll, which means only one piece of it was created and it was used for PR and events purposes only and not meant to be sold.
But recently Mattel decided to release the Naomi Osaka Barbie for mass production, so that the tennis champion can inspire more children.
The release of the Naomi Osaka doll was announced on Barbie's social media on Tuesday, July 13.
Their Instagram post reads, “Breaking records and inspiring the next generation. We are proud to announce athlete and change maker @NaomiOsaka as the newest Barbie Role Model doll!
“Naomi inspires us to have the courage to reach for our dreams, and reminds us to be your own biggest champion. #YouCanBeAnything #Barbie”
Naomi also shared photos of her Barbie doll and had a message for the young ones who look up to her.
“I really hope every child is reminded that they can be and do anything. This is really seeing a dream of mine come to life, having your own Barbie and potentially seeing little kids playing with it. Omg”
Filipino designer Carlyle Nuera, who has Boholano roots, also celebrated the good news by sharing why Naomi Osaka inspires him.
Part of his IG post reads, “Naomi Osaka Barbie is here! What inspires me most about Naomi is how she uses her platform. We stan a queen that wears masks in support of Black Lives Matter on the court, a queen that prioritizes her own mental health over the media system.
“I worked on the Naomi Barbie OOAK back in 2019, so I'm honored to have worked with the team again to bring a Naomi Barbie to mass production so fans of her can have one!”
The Pinoy designer then revealed that Naomi Osaka herself was also involved in designing her Barbie.
“This was during the middle of the global panini, so we were all working from home. We even did a Zoom call with Naomi once!” Carlyle shared. “Naomi wanted her Barbie to have her golden ombré hair and pearl earrings, so that's what she got.”
Carlyle also shared how they worked with brands such as Nike and Yonex to ensure the details on the Naomi Osaka Barbie will be as accurate as possible.
“We recreated what she wore during the 2020 Australian Open; a @nike outfit and a @yonex_usa tennis racket.
“Nike sent us the dress to examine and recreate the binding, the mesh inserts, the brush stroke print, all of it.
“They also sent us shoes that we could paint gray, digitally scan and miniaturize in Barbie scale, keeping all the details of the shoe design.
“Yonex also sent us a sample racket for us to digitally scan.”
Aside from Naomi Osaka, Carlyle has also created OOAK Barbie dolls for American gymnast Gabby Douglas, British fashion model Adwoa Aboah, and 'American Idol' alumni Adam Lambert, which was his first OOAK doll in 2012.
Plus, he also designed the Barbie doll of Mrs. Which, Oprah Winfrey's character in the 2018 film 'A Wrinkle in Time.'
Oprah Winfrey herself said in a video that she loved the Barbie doll that Carlyle designed.
Another notable creation of Carlyle is the Mutya Barbie, which is a Filipina-inspired Barbie doll. It's a limited-edition Barbie doll that was part of the Global Glamour Collection in 2015.
Carlyle is so proud of the Mutya Barbie doll design that he makes it a point to celebrate its anniversary each year by posting a photo of it.
In his most recent annual Mutya Barbie post, Carlye said, “Happy birthday to Mutya Barbie and me! Yualreadykno it's my yearly tradition to post a pic on our mutual birthday; Mutya Barbie was released on this day and so was I.”
Such gorgeous Barbie dolls, right? We bet many Filipinos are proud of Carlyle Nuera and his stunning creations.
And we truly feel that if Naomi Osaka is the newest Barbie Role Model, then Carlyle is the new talented Filipino designer that will make us all say, “Proud to be Pinoy.”
For more lifestyle content, head out to GMA's Lifestyle page.
Check out also the Pinoy celebrity-inspired dolls and action figures in the gallery below.
