Barbie takes on creative direction duties for the 2014 SI Swimsuit Legends shoot

Rebecca Shore | Feb 17, 2014

Walter Iooss and his partner-in-crime

Photographer Walter Iooss and SI's Creative Director Chris Hercik are not the kind of people to cede their authority, and certainly not at SI Swimsuit's most ambitious project yet, the Legends shoot. But when Barbie strutted through the doors of Pier 59's studio 10 her presence demanded attention—partly because we otherwise might have stepped on her, but mostly for the way she swiftly commandeered the creative direction. It was a little weird at first, but once the crew and the talent realized that the doll with 55 years in the workforce was pretty much dead-on with every suggestion, we were comfortable with giving her a final say.

Granted some (ahem, Troyzan) perhaps felt a little too comfortable. Honestly, dude, did you really think you stood a chance?