In 1959, Mattel Inc’s co-founder Ruth Handler officially launched a fashion doll in an iconic black-and-white striped swimwear and called her Barbie, named after her daughter. Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. This was the first Barbie doll.
In 1973, Barbie received her first medical certificate to break the glass ceiling and become a surgeon.
In 2015, Mattel launched the first Barbie Fashionistas collection, which focused on increasing the availability of skin tones, hair types and body shapes in order to be more inclusive.
Beginning her journey as a flight attendant, in 1999 Barbie became a pilot.
Barbie began her political career in 2000 in her first run for president.
In 1999, Barbie launched its first doll representing American Sign Language as the packaging exhibited signs of each alphabet and illustrations for common words with a blackboard.
Barbie firefighter doll dressed in a firefighter uniform with a firefighter hat.
In 2017, Barbie launched its first Hijab-wearing doll in honour of American Olympian fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first American Muslim woman to have grabbed a bronze medal.
In a flight suit and accessories, Barbie recreated the determination of Natasha “Phoenix” Trace, a pilot at the fiercely competitive Top Gun flight school.
She wears a triple-threat original design, featuring a deep red tulle gown gracefully draped over a dazzling, silver metallic bodysuit. Launched in 2022, the first trans-Barbie of colour was sculpted after Laverne Cox.
In its walk towards inclusivity, Barbie partnered with the National Down Syndrome Society, to come up with its first doll exhibiting a body type of Down's syndrome.
