The Barbie drops just in time for National Black Business Month!
Mattel honors Madam C.J. Walker with a new historical Barbie, Black Enterprise reports.
Born Sarah Breedlove in 1867, Madam C.J. Walker is considered the nation’s first self-made woman millionaire. She was a pioneer in the Black beauty industry, founding “Madam Walker’ s Wonderful Hair Grower” and becoming a respected trailblazer in the Black haircare and cosmetics industry.
Walker built her own factory, hair and manicure salon and two training schools. In the years since she’s passed, her family has continued on her legacy. In recent years, her great-great-granddaughter, A’Lelia Bundles, has been a staunch advocate for preserving Walker’s history, Bundles partnering with Walmart to launch a new affordable hair care line, Madam by Madam C.J. Walker, more than a century after Walker first made history.
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Now Bundles has teamed up with Mattel to launch a new doll in Walker’s honor as a part of Mattel’s Barbie Signature Inspiring Women collection. The doll capture’s Walker’s essence, outfitted in a floral print blouse with puffed sleeves. Her floor length turquoise skirt completes the outfit, and each doll comes with a “Madam C.J. Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower” accessory.
“To be able to have Madam C.J. Walker included in Barbie’s Inspiring Women Series means her story will go out across the world in a way it never has before. To know little girls and big girls will have access to Madam Walker and just that physical symbolism of her story means it’s going to be exploding exponentially in a way it never has before,” said Bundles.
Walker joins other influential figures honored by Mattel including Maya Angelou, Ida B. Wells, and Rosa Parks.
Photo Courtesy of Mattel Creations