Mattel’s New Ken Doll: “He’s Been Backpacking Through Tibet”

Travel Blog  •  Jim Benning  •  02.12.06 | 2:56 AM ET

imageCNN was droning on in the background Saturday— something about Mattel making over its famous Ken doll—when I heard someone mention Tibet and had to rewind the digital recorder. “Celebrity stylist” Phillip Bloch, who consulted on Ken’s makeover for Mattel, was trying to convince a CNN anchor that Ken was not gay, despite his metrosexual look.

Bloch: “People just get confused when a man is more sensitive, he’s more in touch with his spiritual side, he’s been writing poetry.”

Anchor: “He’s wearing a leather jacket.”

Bloch: “Well, his jacket is leather…his jeans are torn. He got them in Italy. He’s been backpacking through Tibet.”

So there you have it. Ken is officially a backpacker—the kind of guy who hikes in the Himalayas, studies Buddhism and writes poetry. No word on whether Barbie will soon be spring-breaking in Thailand, getting her hair braided outside a guesthouse on Khao San Road.