‘Barbie Of Tomorrow’ Looks Like A Humanoid Robot

A new Barbie has arrived and she looks more suited for Blade Runner than a Malibu Dreamhouse, channeling a cybernetic chic, with minimalist lines and a decidedly futuristic flair.

The pint-size humanoid has 13 points of articulation, though Mattel doesn't say anything about actuators or payload capacity. She comes with a pet robot cat that looks like it stepped out of an anime series.

Tokyo-based fashion designer Yoon Ahn styled the Signature Barbie x Yoon Ahn Doll , which Mattel describes as a foray into the "Barbie of tomorrow." It will be available starting Friday for $100.

Ahn is co-founder and creative director of fashion brand Ambush, which is known for bold, experimental designs that blend streetwear, hip-hop and future-forward aesthetics. Ahn's Barbie wears a sleek black and white suit with pink and molded accents, and a cyberpunk-style helmet.

The outfit takes inspiration from anime uniforms and sci-fi films, the designer told Vogue , and from Japanese contemporary artist Mariko Mori, whose work often explores technological innovation.

The U.S. designer calls her Barbie a love letter to the Japan she grew up watching — "00s tech, anime, that specific brand of future we used to imagine before we actually got here," she said in a statement posted to Instagram . Barbie was integral to her childhood, "my first outlet to roleplay." If Ahn herself were a Barbie, she said, she'd look just like the doll she designed.

Mixing 'Circuitry And Softness'

"She's built from a tension I keep coming back to: what's engineered to be perfect, next to what nature already got right without trying. Armor and hair," Ahn said "Circuitry and softness. A cyborg cat that's part machine, part familiar."

Mattel debuted Barbie in 1959 and has since then attempted to keep her contemporary by releasing versions appropriately dressed for a variety of occupations, including astronaut, astrophysicist , entomologist, polar marine biologist and creative director . Now, apparently, she's ready for the robot age. Paging Denis Villeneuve.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com