Mattel’s $20 ‘Black Barbie’ Tees Fuse Fashion With Representation — Shop for Black History Month

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Mattel and Amazon have released a line of t-shirts honoring Black Barbie and her legion of fans around the world.

The T-shirts are available online now as part of Mattel’s Black History Month storefront, though they make a style — and social — statement all year long. While the Barbie doll was first introduced in 1959, a Black Barbie didn’t hit store shelves until 1980. The popularity of the doll led to calls for even more diversity among the Barbie family, resulting in the launch of a Hispanic Barbie and Asian Barbie in later years (Mattel’s Lunar New Year Barbie doll remains a bestseller each year). Now, Mattel says it has dolls in more than 20 different skin shades, with diverse hairstyles, hair colors, eye colors and body shapes.

Part of Amazon’s merch-on-demand program, each Black Barbie T-shirt is available in more than a dozen colors, with generous sizing from small to 6X. Amazon offers big and tall, and plus sizes as well. This is an officially licensed release from Mattel.

And while Nicki Minaj once sang about “Black Barbies” — remixing the Rae Sremmurd hit, “Black Beatles” — it’s safe to say these Black Barbie T-shirts aren’t just about a “pretty face [and] perfect body” — they’re also about celebrating diversity and putting the culture in pop culture.

Also worth noting: while Minaj may refer to herself as a “Barbie” and to her fans as “Barbs” (or “Barbz”), many credit Lil’ Kim as the first female rapper to reference the iconic doll, with the rapper calling herself a “Black Barbie dressed in Bulgari” in her 2003 hit “The Jump Off.”

Here’s a look at the some of the Black Barbie T-shirts to buy on Amazon right now.