Louvenia (Kitty) Black Perkins was Chief Designer of Fashions and Doll Concepts for Mattel's Barbie line for over twenty-five years. Her designs include the "First Black Barbie" (1979-1980) the first African American doll from Mattel to have the name Barbie and not be a friend of Barbie but Barbie herself, "Shani and Friends" (1991) a short-lived line of African-American dolls, "Holiday Barbie" (1988, 1989, 1990, 1996), "Fashion Savvy Barbie" (1997), "Bathtime Barbie" and "Brandy" (1999). From Wikipedia
