Mario Paglino, 52, and Gianni Grossi, 54, Die; Designers Made Barbies Into Art [View all]

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Mario Paglino, 52, and Gianni Grossi, 54, Die; Designers Made Barbies Into Art

They transformed dolls into one-of-a-kind pieces that sold for thousands of dollars. A married couple, they died in a car crash in Italy.

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By Joanne Kaufman
Aug. 13, 2025
Updated 6:44 p.m. ET

Mario Paglino and Gianni Grossi, designers who turned Barbie dolls into one-of-a-kind works of art that sold for thousands of dollars, including one that fetched more than $15,000 at a charity auction, died on July 27 in Italy. Mr. Paglino was 52; Mr. Grossi was 54. … The Italian news service ANSA reported their deaths, in a car collision with another vehicle that was going the wrong way on the A4 Turin-Milan highway.

The two men, who married in New York City in 2022, lived and worked together in Novara, west of Milan. They were celebrities in the global Barbie doll-collecting community, which is vast and has numerous Facebook groups, some with more than 100,000 members.

Depending on their interests, fans “buy Barbies that have been created by Mattel, or they buy limited-edition and one-of-a-kind Barbies that doll artists make,” Kim Culmone, the head of design for dolls at Mattel, said in an interview.

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One line of Barbies that Mario Paglino and Gianni Grossi created was based on the works of well-known artists. These, from left, are meant to evoke Gustav Klimt’s “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I,” Piet Mondrian’s “Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow” and Andy Warhol’s “Marilyn Diptych.” Magia 2000

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Matteo Paglino recalled in an email that his brother Mario’s interest in Barbie dolls began as a 9-year-old. After helping with household chores and much pleading, Mario was given the coveted Barbie Dream Date doll. But when children at school taunted him, his father took the doll away. … Years later, Mr. Grossi presented Mr. Paglino with the same doll, reviving his enthusiasm for Barbies.

The two men met in 1997 and soon became a couple. They established their company, Magia2000, in 1999. Magia means magic in Italian; it also contains the first few letters of each founder’s first name.


Mr. Grossi, left, and Mr. Paglino at home in Novara, Italy. “Mario and Gianni had a very couture approach — very detailed — with impeccable gown construction,” said Kim Culmone, the head of design for dolls at Mattel, which makes Barbie dolls. Cheryl Burnett

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