When Was the First Black Barbie Doll Made? By The Netflix documentary chronicles Kitty Perkins’ journey to create the iconic black Barbie dolls. 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. The documentary Black Barbie: A Documentary is available to stream on Netflix.
Mattel initially produced a couple of Black dolls in the late 1960s. However, they were considered sidekicks and didn’t accurately represent Black women and how they looked. According to , in 1979, Mattel allowed Kitty Perkins to create a colored Barbie doll.
After working on the designs, Mattel released Perkins’ doll a year later in their stores and instantly became successful. When was the first Black Barbie released? As mentioned earlier, the dolls created by Kitty Perkins made their debut in 1980. The packaging for Black Barbie read, “She’s Black! She’s beautiful! She’s dynamite!” Citing the documentary, People Magazine revealed that Kitty Perkins wanted the Barbie doll to be different than the original one.
Moreover, she didn’t want her doll to wear shiny gowns and have flowing hair. Instead, she collaborated with a designer and a sculptor to make a doll resembling a Black woman. She said, “I wanted her just to reflect the total look of a Black woman.
I gave her bold colors, bold jewelry, short hair, and a wrap skirt that could actually show skin.�.
