Joanna Gaines may have come to fame for her rustic, shiplap-covered renos on Fixer Upper, but the home design mogul is undergoing a renaissance. First, it was a change in format to her and husband Chip's HGTV show, which slows the pace for one in-depth project per season. And, it seems, the world's interior-designer-in-chief has been long simmering on another important home transformation. Gaines is entering her Barbie era, and I'm not mad about it.
Joanna Gaines Is Becoming a Barbie (and You Need to See Her Dream House)
Barbie girl, meet Joanna Gaines' world
Published Sep 30, 2025
•8:15pm
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The design doyenne announced the news via Instagram, writing, "What an honor it was to team up with the iconic @barbie to design my own doll and townhouse! Growing up, Barbie always felt to me like this big world of endless possibility and I hope this collaboration carries that spirit forward."
She shared two photos of the Magnolia-inspired townhouse, in all its pink, three-storied glory, alongside her very own doll.
Said doll is throwing it back to Gaines' year of birth, with a white and green T-shirt reading "1978," pink plaid flannel, bell bottoms and roller skates.
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On the Design & Inspiration
In a Magnolia blog post, Gaines shared a bit about the process that went into the collaboration, which is available for pre-order at Target.
"Every time I imagined the look and feel of what we’d create for this collaboration, I kept feeling drawn to the 70s, which happens to be the decade I was born into, and even today is a style and vibe I naturally love," she writes. The team did their research, tracking down as many '70s Barbie dream houses as they could find, leaning on Gaines' memories of her own to eventually inform the final design.
As for the doll, she shares, "If you would have asked six-year-old me what I loved to do most, I would have said 'roller skating.' Because skating, for me, was an inside out sort of experience, and inside I felt free—like I could be or do anything." Several years ago, Gaines picked the hobby back up and found she was imbued once again with lightness and confidence, writing, "I wanted the doll to lean into that spirit."
Both the doll and townhouse are available for pre-order, though the doll is presently sold out. The collection formally launches on December 7, when Magnolia fans can check back for a restock. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going pull out my roller skates.
