Barbie

Oscar de la Renta fashions for Barbie, 1985 The first time a fashion designer collaborated with Mattel on Barbie. Four of de la Renta's signature pieces were shrunk from his collection into play-size versions, though he did not make them himself: Mattel designer Carol Spencer created the designs and he approved them. That arrangement set the template for decades of designer tie-ins, and it turned Barbie into a way for a couture name to reach children and collectors who would never buy the real thing.