A new range of dolls that celebrate inspirational icons has been created ahead of International Women’s Day.

Barbie maker Mattel has made some special one-off dolls as part of its Shero programme recognising women who inspire girls and their achievements.

It comes just a couple of months after Mattel announced its dolls would now come in realistic body shapes.

The toy maker said 84 per cent of UK mothers worried about the role models their daughters were exposed to and Barbie responded to "ignite a conversation around the importance of positive role models by shining a light on inspiring women".

Inspirational role models include US snowboarder Chloe Kim, Australian conservationist Bindi Irwin, French chef Helene Darroze, Chinese actress and philanthropist Guan Xiaotong and boxer Nicola Adams.

British double Olympic champion Adams said: "I am so excited and honoured to be Barbie's first ever UK Shero and the first ever boxer Barbie.

"Having my own Nicola Adams Barbie doll is so amazing and my hope is that everything I do helps more people realise they can do anything they put their mind to."

Barbie senior vice president Lisa McKnight said: "As a brand that inspires the limitless potential in girls, Barbie will be honouring its largest line-up of role models timed to International Women's Day, because we know that you can't be what you can't see.”

Mattel said it was not planning to put the doll into production for sale, but the aim was to "inspire conversation" around role models.

Barbie has also introduced an Inspiring Women line of dolls sold with educational information about the contributions each woman made to society, beginning with the artist Frida Kahlo, aviator Amelia Earhart and Katherine Johnson, one of a pool of women hired by Nasa to calculate the trajectory of the first American-manned flight into space.

The new lines follow a number of updates to the dolls in recent years, including a makeover for Barbie's companion Ken, including varying body sizes and skin tones, new Barbie body types - tall, curvy and petite - to widespread approval as part of efforts to modernise the global brand.