The creator of the first Black Barbie grew up in segregated South Carolina and went on to become principal designer for Mattel
- Kitty Black Perkins led an illustrious career designing outfits for Barbie dolls, creating over 100 fashions a year.
- She designed Mattel's first-ever Black Barbie in 1979.
Kitty Black Perkins is renowned in the toy industry for designing the first-ever Black Barbie, and was a pioneer who helped diversify the mega-popular doll franchise.
Born in racially-segregated Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1948, Black Perkins grew up playing with white dolls gifted by her mother's employers. She went on to work in the fashion industry after graduating from college.
Black Perkins grew up admiring her dapper father, who was "the most spectacular dresser," she told Greenville News in 2019.
Source: National Museum of Play; Greenville News
Black Perkins bought her first Barbie doll from Toys R Us when she was 28 years old to prepare for an interview with Mattel. The company asked her to take a Barbie home and to bring it back in a week with a new wardrobe.
Black Perkins hand-sewed a floral jumpsuit with tiered legs and puff sleeves, along with a matching wide-brimmed hat for her Barbie. Though Mattel found the outfit too elaborate for mass production, they hired Black Perkins to design clothes for Barbie.
Since it was unveiled in 1959, Barbie became an instant best-seller. But critics chided Mattel for failing to represent the diversity of America, especially as the country was in the thick of the Civil Rights Movement.
Source: National Museum of Play
In 1969, Barbie got a friend, Talking Christie. Christie would be the first Black doll under the franchise, even if she wasn't a Barbie.
Source: National Museum of Play
In 1979, Black Perkins, who had become Barbie's principal designer the year before, was tasked with creating an outfit for the first-ever Black Barbie. "She's Black! She's beautiful! She's dynamite!" the doll's box said.
Black Perkins created a bold, red bodysuit with a wrap-and-snap disco skirt, a modernist necklace, and hoop and dangle earrings.
Source: National Museum of Play
Black Perkins took inspiration from magazines, stores, and couture shows in Europe. She was also inspired by her daughter, who had 60 Barbie dolls as a child.
"My first week [at Mattel] I would just sit and brush Barbie's hair," Black Perkins told Greenville News in 2019. "It would give me ideas and it was a thinking process for me. As I was stroking the hair, ideas would just come."
One day, Black Perkins noticed her daughter, Erika, loved taking Barbie into her bath. In 1991, Mattel released a "Bathtime Barbie."
Sources: Toledo Blade Newspaper; Greenville News
Black Perkins was responsible for over 100 designs a year as chief designer for Barbie, a position she held for nearly 30 years. She received several prestigious awards for her work.
Black Perkins received the Mattel's Chairman's Award, the highest recognition bestowed upon a Mattel employee, twice in 1985 and 1987. She also received the doll industry's highest honor, the Doll of the Year Award, and was inducted into the Black Hall of Fame in 2001. Black Perkins retired from Mattel in 2002.
Sources: Los Angeles Times; National Museum of Play
The Brandy dolls, MC Hammer doll, and the Shani & Friends dolls — Mattel's first exclusive line of Black dolls — are among Black Perkins' other notable designs.
Source: National Museum of Play
Black Perkins' legacy is shown in the diversified range of Barbie dolls now available around the world.
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