Editor’s note: In honor of Black History Month, this is the fourth in a series of features highlighting the impact of individuals and organizations in the Upstate’s Black community. For more, visit greenvillejournal.com/black-history-month.
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When Louvenia “Kitty” Black Perkins was in high school, she developed a love of art that would take her from South Carolina and to Los Angeles, California.
Born in Highland, a historically Black neighborhood near downtown Spartanburg, she grew up during racial segregation in South Carolina. She attended Carver High School, a Black school that later merged with Spartanburg High School, where she was mentored by her art teachers, Raymond Floyd and Mac Arthur Goodwin.
Perkins graduated from Carver High School in 1967, and after visiting her aunt and uncle in Los Angeles, she decided to attend Los Angeles Trade Tech College rather than Allen University in Columbia.
She planned to become a commercial artist but, because of a waiting list at the school in Los Angeles, she switched to a fashion major.
She worked in the L.A. fashion district for around six years before finding a blind ad in the “California Apparel News” for a job with toy maker Mattel.
Working on Barbie
Perkins says she interviewed twice for her first job at Mattel in 1976. Her first attempt to get the job failed because she followed the recruiter’s direction and did not worry about cost when designing an outfit for Barbie, so she reached out to Mattel and got another chance.
“I went back home and started working on another outfit for Barbie,” Perkins said. “I was having so much fun, I decided to do several, so I did six. I took (them) back to Mattel and they ended up putting them in that line for the year.”
At the time Perkins joined the company, Mattel had produced Christie, a Black friend doll as an accessory to Barbie. But the brand had not made a Black Barbie doll. During her first four years on the job, Perkins bided her time until she got an opportunity to design the first Black Barbie, which was released in 1980.
She also worked on various other dolls and play patterns for Mattel, including the Barbie Ice Cream Shoppe playset, which included a real ice cream maker and accessories for kids to play with their dolls.
Perkins retired from Mattel in 2004 as chief designer of fashions and doll concepts for Barbie. While she is no longer full time with the company, she said she still designs special Black dolls when contacted by Mattel.
“Kitty” Black Perkins’ life beyond Mattel
Perkins has designed clothes for singers Gladys Knight and Thelma Houston and does freelance fashion design for individuals in Los Angeles.
She also spends time doing interviews and career days for the Los Angeles and Spartanburg communities.
“I’m hoping this will continue because it’s important that the kids know where they came from and that they can do whatever they set their mind to do,” Perkins said.
Notable dolls designed/worked on by Perkins
- The first Black Barbie (1980)
- Day-to-Night Barbie
- MC Hammer
- Brandy
- Charlie’s Angels
Honors
- Kitty Black Perkins Maker Lab at Spartanburg County Public Libraries
- Two-time Mattel Chairman’s Award recipient
