Netflix’s 'Black Barbie' tells the story of how the first Black Barbie came to be — and the lasting impact she left behind Barbie dolls first hit the shelves in 1959 — but it would take more ...

Produced by Shonda Rhimes, the documentary focuses on how Mattel received criticism for making dolls with fair skin tones, leading Perkins to launch the first Black Barbie doll in 1980.

were only "accessories" to Barbie herself, Kitty Black Perkins, a former doll designer at Mattel tells PEOPLE exclusively, much like how Ken is still just an accessory to Barbie. And these dolls ...

Black Barbie is the untold story of the first Barbie doll created as a Black woman and the pivotal role that three trailblazing women had in working with the Mattel Company in 1980 to produce a ...

T he world’s most famous doll is getting her own exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center this spring and summer. Featuring ...

Barbie is more than just a doll. The brand does $1 billion in sales ... day,” says a mom in one of the focus groups. “If a black woman or a redheaded woman or a heavyset woman had shown ...

Handler wanted an adult female doll for her daughter to play with rather than the baby dolls girls at that time were sold. In her classic black and white knit swimsuit, the original Barbie came ...

Barbie adopted progressive stances: The same year as the Fair Housing Act of 1968, Mattel introduced Christie, a Black doll with a mod swimsuit. Many activists, though, took issue with the dolls.

but this was the first time a Black doll had the word Barbie," she said of Mattel's dolls. The very first Black Barbie (middle) debuted in 1980, 21 years after Barbie debuted on March 9 ...

In 1963, a doll featuring a diet-book accessory ... To promote equal rights, Barbie received her first Black friend, Christie. Barbie became fully poseable in the '70s, and many of her features ...

The toy company is celebrating the 60th anniversary of its first spacesuit-clad fashion doll with a new reproduction of Barbie Miss Astronaut. Originally sold in 1965 as an outfit accessory alone ...