Rita Moreno Barbie: Pitoy Moreno used Japanese obi material for the 1962 design. (Barbie FB)
Hollywood icon Rita Moreno, the legendary actress from the ‘50s and ‘60s, is the newest Barbie doll in the Barbie Tribute Collection, and the Rita Moreno Barbie is wearing the ballgown designed for her by Filipino designer Jose “Pitoy” Moreno.
This is Mattel’s way of honoring the Hollywood actress, who won the Oscars or the Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress in 1962 for her role in West Side Story. Pitoy Moreno gifted her with that ballgown with a skirt made of the Japanese obi.
Rita Moreno in 1962 with her Oscars for Best Supporting Actress, wearing Pitoy Moreno, with George Chakiris and Rock Hudson (Academy Awards Press photo)
A tearful Rita Moreno with Rock Hudson (Academy Awards Press photo)
Moreno was the first Latina to win an Oscar. In an interview with Vanity Fair (March 2018), Moreno recounts she had no idea that she would win—“I was sure it was going to be Judy Garland for Judgment at Nuremberg. I flew in from Manila in the Philippines just in case, which is where this gown was made.”
She was also the first Latina to win the prestigious EGOT prize—the EGOT award is an honor given people who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award, and is considered one of the highest achievements in Hollywood.
Jose “Pitoy” Moreno with Miss Universe 1969 Gloria Diaz (From the personal collection of Pitoy Moreno)
Moreno wore the same ballgown by Pitoy Moreno to the 2018 Academy Awards in March—her way of paying tribute to Pitoy who died January that year. Pitoy Moreno was among the pioneering fashion designers or couturiers of the Philippines starting in the late ‘50s. He was arguably the most famous Filipino fashion designer of the era starting in the ‘60s—because of how he presented his collections abroad in high profile communities. In the Philippines during the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, his collections were the ones paraded at state functions at Malacanang before heads of state and VIPs. He also made clothes for many of the foreign dignitaries and celebrities. It was in this context that he came to gift Rita Moreno her precious ballgown.
Rita Moreno presents the Oscar® for Best foreign language film of the year during the live ABC Telecast of The 90th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, March 4, 2018. (Aaron Poole / A.M.P.A.S.)
The actress will turn 93 on Dec. 11, 2024, and is still active in series and films.
