Meet the women who helped changed the world of toys forever (2024)

Growing up, many may remember a time when a blonde-haired and blue-eyed Barbie dominated the toy shelves.

In 1959, the pouty doll made its debut, wearing a bold zebra monochrome swimsuit and the rest was history.

Californian company Mattel, now worth around a whopping £4.6bn, also released a brunette version of its first doll.

But millions of African-Americans struggled to see themselves represented untilthree trailblazing women helped to change the toy scene forever during America's Civil Rights Movement.

Netflixhas releasedBlack Barbie: A Documentary, which explores the history of the first Black Barbie, along with those who paved the way for inclusivity in the toy industry.

But who were the people involved in making the decision? Here, FEMAIL reveals all...

Beulah Mae Mitchell

Born in Texas in 1938, at a time when racial segregation was rife in America,Beulahalways had a fascination with dolls.

She would even make her own toys using only a jam jar, some rope and hair, which she would comb.

'My mother loved dolls and I love dolls because I love fashion, pretty dolls, pretty people. They were just gorgeous,' she told the documentary.

'I can't remember having a Black doll when I was a little girl, not even a Black baby doll. I'm almost sure all my dolls for Christmas [were] white dolls.'

In 1955,Beulah got a job as a toy tester at theMattel factory and she witnessed the birth of the Barbie.

Beulah suggested the company create a Black doll to the company'spresident and co-founder Ruth Handler.

When Ruth asked employees what they should implement to improve Barbie,Beulah said: 'We want a Black Barbie.'

Half a decade after Martin Luther King made his famous 'I Have A Dream' speech, Christie, Mattel's first ever Black doll, made her debut as 'a friend of Barbie' in 1968.

Whilst she did not think anything of it at the time, her input helped change not only the toy industry but also shaped young minds by ensuring that they were represented on the shelves.

But while many may agree that the grandmother had a huge impact, she minimised the significance of her actions.

'I think that is the nature sometimes of what it means to navigate as a Black woman, to do the work and almost be invisible,' she said.

Kitty Black Perkins

Beulah's suggestion paved the way for Mattel to hire Kitty Black Perkins in 1976, the company's first Black designer who helped create the first Black Barbie.

She answered a blind job advert, went for the interview and instantly fell in love with the role, added: 'I just remember thinking, I have to have this job, I can't do anything else.'

Kitty earned her degree in fashion design from Los Angeles Trade Technical College in 1971 and had experience workingwith several fashion houses in LA, including Miss Melinda of California, Debbie Ross, and A&O Couture.

Mattel asked Kitty, who is fromSouth Carolina, to bring in one design but she quickly showed the toy company how badly she wanted the job, as she brought in six instead.

The pair met on Kitty's second day at Mattel, withBeulah describing Kitty as a ' real Black Barbie' because rocked up to the factory in a sports car.

'Those days were so exciting for me and everyone who was Black in the company. It didn't matter what their position was, and it was very few, [they] were coming to find me which I thought was so nice.'

Kitty worked for Mattel for 28 years and retired in 2003 as Chief Barbie Designer, after a progressive three decades at the company.

'Every doll that I have done has been special for me,' Perkins tells Tudum about her decades of work at Mattel.

'We have really, really improved on our shapes, our skin colours, our hair textures, [the things that help suggest] the whole idea of what she can be or what she can become.'

Stacey McBride Irby

Stacey, from Los Angeles, told the documentary that she always loved dolls and admitted that Barbie was her favourite. The toys even inspired her to become a fashion designer herself.

Stacey's father saved a newspaper article from the LA Times featuring KittyBlack Perkins hoping that it would inspire his daughter to dream big.

She said: 'When I got into the garment industry in the early nineties, I didn't see people that looked like me but I didn't really have a plan B.

'I brought out that newspaper article of Kitty Black Perkins and I cold called her.'

Stacey said the interview with Kitty 'went great,' adding that her first assignment was to go home, buy a Barbie doll and create a fashion for the toy.

Kitty described her former colleague and friend as 'very ambitious' and said she had 'a lot of great ideas' and so she decided to take Stacey under her wing.

After two years working under Kitty,Stacey was placed with another Barbie team which she describes as 'a little scary' but she added that she felt ready for the next step in her career.

After Kitty left in the early noughties, Stacey then took on a major role in Mattel and helped to design the AKA Barbie Doll, which became a collector's item.

Stacey even brought her young daughter to get involved in the So in Style line, which was released in 2000.

Her goal was to create a line of dolls that retailers 'couldn't say no to.'

She said: '[My daughter] actually inspired me to create this African-American line of Barbie dolls because I wanted to give her dolls that looked like her, reach people in my community and give them dolls they can relate to.

'My daughter loved playing with these dolls, it was great to see something I created [give] her have so much joy.'

• Black Barbie: A Documentary is now available to watch on Netflix