‘Human Barbie’ accused of racist comments

A magazine interview with Ukrainian-Moldovan model Valeria Lukyanova (aka “the human Barbie”) offers some insight into her bizarre and fascinating world.

The piece, in this month’s edition of GQ, reveals a unique worldview, with commentators criticising as racist some of the sentiments expressed by the model.

In the interview, conducted in her home city of Odessa by Michael Idov, Lukyanova attributes current societal ideals of beauty to “race mixing”.

“Ethnicities are mixing now, so there’s degeneration, and it didn’t used to be like that,” Lukyanova is quoted as saying.

“Remember how many beautiful women there were in the 1950s and 1960s, without any surgery?

“And now, thanks to degeneration, we have this.”

The Moldovan-born model, 28, has gained worldwide notoriety in recent years after images of her extensive body transformation were posted online, leading to comparisons with the iconic toy figure.

Her otherworldly appearance was met with shock and disbelief — with some commentators even suggesting that the “human Barbie” images were the result of Photoshop enhancement, and that the “real Valeria” did not even exist.

But she does.

Lukyanova, who has admitted to breast enhancement, and uses make-up techniques and contact lenses to augment her facial features, insists her doll-like waistline is the result of exercise and a special diet.

Her career is difficult to define — she is variously described as a model and singer, and she herself rejects the “human Barbie” label, regarding herself as a kind of spiritual leader under the name, Amatue.

“I realise that just like everyone reading about Human Barbie, I had had a simple narrative prepared in my head: A small-town girl grows up obsessed with dolls, etc,” writes GQ’s Idov after meeting her in an Indian restaurant in Odessa. “Instead, I get a racist space alien.”

However Valeria herself doesn’t seem to regard her journey as anything other than the natural progression of a universal trend.

“Everyone wants a slim figure,” she told GQ.

“Everyone gets breasts done. Everyone fixes up their face if it’s not ideal, you know? Everyone strives for the golden mean. It’s global now.”

Valeria is married to Dmitry, a local Odessa man described as “a wealthy construction magnate”. It was after having met her future husband that her transformation accelerated.

Her spiritual philosophies aside, Valeria is a bona fide online celebrity. As well as having over 1 million followers on Facebook, she has a website, YouTube channel and popular Instagram feed, updated daily with pictures and video.