Mattel’s Barbie has partnered with the Black in Fashion Council (BIFC) to highlight and celebrate Black female designers, past, present, and future, during Black History Month.
Barbie Partners with Black in Fashion Council to Empower the Next Generation of Black Female Fashion Designers in Celebration of Black History Month. – Barbie
As part of the partnership, Barbie and BIFC enlisted Blake Newby, a digital content creator and TV personality, to host a series of interviews with three leading Black designers: Larissa Muehleder, Nia Thomas, and Fumi Egbon.
Each designer shared their personal journeys and identified critical barriers to entering the fashion industry. To help address these barriers for the next generation, Barbie and BIFC are creating custom programming geared toward kids, teens, and young designers at the 2025 ENVSN Festival.
“The Black in Fashion Council is proud to team up with Barbie in support of their mission to inspire limitless possibilities for girls. We founded BIFC with a vision of an equal workforce across the fashion and beauty industry – knowing there are countless obstacles designers face during their careers – especially at the start,” said Sandrine Charles, co-founder, BIFC.
“By using the Barbie brand’s global platform to celebrate Nia Thomas, Fumi Egbon, and Larissa Muehleder’s stories, while also providing resources to overcome the direct barriers they encountered, we hope to empower aspiring young designers and lessen those potential barriers for the next generation.”
Likewise, Barbie is marking the 45th anniversary of the first Black Barbie doll, originally designed by Kitty Black Perkins in 1980. To commemorate this milestone, Perkins collaborated with Barbie on a special edition doll now available at Mattel Shop.
Barbie kicked off Black History Month with Aurora James, founder of Brother Vellies, who styled dolls in signature designs for BarbieStyle’s Instagram. She also appeared on The Barbie Podcast, sharing her journey in the fashion industry.
Fans can further engage with Black History Month celebrations through the 1980s Black Barbie Collection and Barbie Black History Month apparel, available on Amazon’s Barbie storefront.
