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Mattel Unveils More Barbie Dolls to Celebrate the Diverse Beauty of Black Women

By Emma Taggart on March 4, 2020

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A post shared by Barbie® (@barbiestyle) on Feb 19, 2020 at 6:33am PST

Lately, Barbie manufacturer Mattel has been working hard to produce diverse dolls that represent women of all colors, shapes, sizes, and even careers. The brand’s latest line of Barbies coincided with Black History Month (February), and was designed in collaboration with Bermudan stylist and creative consultant Shiona Turini.

The new collection is part of Barbie Style, a series that merges fashion, art, and culture. “I grew up obsessed with Barbie and while she was one of my first fashion icons, I clearly remember searching shelves for a doll that looked like me and coming up empty-handed,” says Turini. “The first black Barbie was introduced in 1980—in a sparkly red dress with an Afro pick in her hair.” Turini decided to pay homage to the original black Barbie by reintroducing her into the new lineup. She also added a bunch of new dolls into the collection, styled to celebrate the diversity of black culture.

Turini’s Barbies feature a range of skin tones, as well as hairstyles, including braids, afros, finger waves, and “everything in between.” For their outfits, Turini designed a collection of doll-sized red outfits inspired by the original black Barbie. For another collection, she was influenced by the costumes she designed for Queen & Slim, a film she worked on last year. “When I worked on the movie Queen & Slim the stand-out, ‘hero’ look for me was mixing snakeskin and tiger prints in the same look,” says Turini. “The contrast of the two patterns completely subverts expectations, and I was excited to use the same formula on pieces such as Barbie’s thigh-high boots to break the traditional mold of dolls I had grown up playing with.”

You can find out more about Turini’s Black History Month Barbie collection on Instagram.