Shonda Rhimes’ latest Netflix documentary, Black Barbie, revisits the iconic doll’s history and introduces viewers to its designer, Kitty Perkins. The documentary debuted on the streaming service on June 19, 2024, and details the story of Black Barbie and its impact on the world.
Mattel first launched the Black Barbie doll in 1980, and it came in a box that said, “She’s Black! She’s beautiful! She’s dynamite.” Kitty Perkins, who designed Black Barbie, claimed in the documentary, “I knew Black Barbie was different, but I never realized the magnitude.” The brand’s aim was more than just sales; it was meant to revolutionize the toy world.
Who is Kitty Perkins & why did she design the first Black Barbie?
According to People Magazine, Kitty Black Perkins, a South Carolina woman, went on to design the first Black Barbie doll in 1980. She was born in Spartanburg in 1948 to a housekeeper and a chef.
In 2019, Perkins told Greenville News that she and her siblings “grew up modestly.” She also admitted to never owning a Barbie doll, as they were unaffordable for her family. Moreover, she never had any black dolls. Perkins told CBS News that she used to “actually color the skin of the paper dolls” and “wanted them to look like me.”
Initially, Kitty Perkins was keenly interested in fashion and moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dreams. She studied fashion design at Los Angeles Trade Tech College and earned an associate’s degree in 1971. Perkins worked for a couture designer for some years before finding Mattel’s ad in a newspaper for a fashion designer. She later learned that the job was to design clothes for Barbie. Moreover, her interview was to create an outfit for the iconic doll.
That was when Perkins, then 28, bought her first Barbie doll. In an interview, she told Greenville News, “After knowing I was going on an interview, I went to Toys R Us and I purchased my very first Barbie doll.” After creating six outfits during the interview, she landed the job and became the brand’s first Black designer in 1976.
Reportedly, Beulah Mae Mitchell, a Black line worker at Mattel, was the first to suggest the idea of a Black Barbie. Mitchell proposed this idea to Barbie’s creator, Ruth Handler, shortly after the brand launched the doll in 1959.
Mattel responded by introducing Black dolls in the 1960s and 1970s, which served as Barbie’s companions. These dolls were “colored Francie,” Christie, Julia, and Cara in 1975. However, their features failed to match traditional Black features.
As critics and activists started calling out the brand for producing dolls with fair skin, Kitty Perkins was tasked with creating the first Black Barbie in 1979. Perkins recalled in the Netflix documentary, “When I designed this doll, there was a need for the little Black girl to really have something she could play with that looked like her.” It was in 1980 that stores began selling the first Black Barbie.
In the documentary, Kitty Perkins shared how she always wanted Black Barbie “to be the opposite” of traditional Barbie. She added, “I wanted her to be able to do the same things that the White doll did, but just add a little more spice.”
Perkins revealed she worked with other Black designers to complete Black Barbie’s look. They wanted to give the doll traditional Black features, including a short, natural Afro, fuller lips, and a wider nose. She claimed, “I gave her bold colors, bold jewelry, short hair and a wrap skirt that could actually show skin.”
Shonda Rhimes’ Black Barbie documentary is now streaming on Netflix.
