Kim Culmone serves as Mattel’s Vice President of Barbie Design, a position she has held since 2013. In this role, Culmone sets the global creative vision for the No. 1 girls’ toy property in the world. She and her award-winning team of product, packaging and graphic designers are entrusted with maintaining the brand’s position as a leader in innovation, a reflection of popular culture and a source of inspiration to children around the world. Before transitioning to her current role, Culmone was Vice President, Consumer Product Design, where she was a creative leader for style guide development and licensed product design for Mattel’s global girls’ brands, including Barbie, Monster High and Polly Pocket. Culmone started her career at Mattel in 1999 as a designer for Barbie. Throughout her tenure at the company, Culmone has maintained a creative process that emphasizes purpose-driven, human-centric design. In 2015, she championed the Barbie Fashionistas collection, the most diverse Barbie doll line in the brand’s history that introduced an unprecedented variety of skin tones, hair texture and body styles. In 2016, fueled by an award-winning marketing campaign, the introduction of the Barbie Fashionistas generated 5 billion media impressions worldwide. This bold product reinvention led to a TIME cover and was named one of the “Top 25 Inventions of 2016” by the magazine. It also received the coveted “Doll of the Year Award” from the Toy Industry Association. Culmone is originally from New Orleans and now resides in West Hollywood, California. She holds design degrees from Louisiana State University and the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles. She is passionate about the advancement of women and girls, and supports the arts and LGBTQ services in her community.
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