Ken is three years and two days younger than Barbie. Barbie's birthday is March 9 and Ken's Birthday is March 11! - Peter Helenek, Vice President of Design, Barbie

Created (and trademarked) especially for Barbie, Pantone 219C is (and, of course named for) the perfect shade of Barbie Pink. - Peter Helenek, Vice President of Design, Barbie

Our development process is on average a year from the time design starts to the time it's on a shelf. We can do it faster than that, it's just we need to make sure that all of the stars are aligned because there's such a large number of people that are involved. If we need to, we can do this in a much shorter amount of time if we want to really focus in on something if it's really trend-based, to make sure that it really resonates because cultural relevancy is really important. - Cassandra Kroskrity, Mattel's Director of 3-D Design

The Totally Hair Barbie from 1992 was the best-selling doll ever. I think it was probably the perfect timing [that made it a best-seller], but it was a lot of hair! There's some play value with some of the piece count. There was was red styling gel, hair spray, Depp gel, she had big, giant barrel bangs, a neon dress and it was very of that time. The hair was crimped, and it went all the way to her feet. It was Totally Hair! She was fabulous. - Cassandra Kroskrity, Mattel's Director of 3-D Design

These Barbies are part of the Barbie Fashionista collection—these girls: Glam, Sweetie, Cutie, Sporty, Artsy and Sassy—are always en vogue, and have a dream wardrobe to match. - Peter Helenek, Vice President of Design, Barbie

Twice a year we have a week-long immersed brainstorm process where we spend the entire week putting ourselves in the mind of a five to seven-year-old girl. We generally have a kick off where we create teams. We have a day of inspiration where the teams go out shopping, they go sight seeing, they go to Disney Land. I always like to go somewhere that has a great view, so like the beach or the Hollywood Hills. The teams come back the next day and creates sketches. - Peter Helenek, Vice President of Design, Barbie

We do do one-of-a-kind dolls sometimes for charity stuff. Last year, for Divine Design, which raises money for Project Angelfood, we did Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry, one-of-a-kind dolls that were auctioned. We worked with [Nicki and Katy], so they'll give our designers [references]. It's really fun to work with designers from the outside because it's such a collaborative process. We bring our expertise, they bring theirs and then you see this creation of something that's really unique and fun. - Cassandra Kroskrity, Mattel's Director of 3-D Design

It takes a lot of fashion confidence to wear these and, if Barbie has one thing, it’s fashion confidence! Although with Barbie, a sold-out show featuring her favorite pop star or a red-carpet appearance in an Oscar-worthy gown is always around the corner. - Peter Helenek, Vice President of Design, Barbie

Without a doubt, the [most coveted items in my closet are] outfits from every one of my careers! I've had over 135 ah-mazing careers and each look reminds me how important it is to work hard and always follow your dreams. - Barbie

The designer [who makes the shoes] also does the initial sketch for the shoes and accessory pieces. We have a team of engineers and development people here who help to figure out what material they're going to be made from, do we need them to be painted - if we do, there's a specific material we use. We'll look at all of the ways that the details are sculpted into the shoe, so we have teams here that actually do the sculpting, and create the shoe in digital format. They'll take inspiration from the trend board, and they'll distill it down to what's right for the product and then they'll start from there and start adding in the detail. Often times they'll have to be tweaks, because in the designer's version it's a two-dimensional sketch, and bringing into 3D, and then making sure it's manufacturable.  - Peter Helenek, Vice President of Design, Barbie

While Barbie can rock a pair of flats better than most, Barbie is the ultimate dress up girl, and a high heel is a must. Of course, with her closet (and collection of Louboutins), the possibilities are endless.

Barbie has a fabulous dog named Taffy, who does everything from shop with her to go out jogging with her. She also has a cat named Blissa, who is kind of a white Persian cat and she has a horse named Tawny. We recently did a Barbie who was pushing a cart with a puppy and the cart came off and became a carrier for the puppy, so Barbie could carry the puppy around, because pets are fashion accessories as well as members of the family. - Peter Helenek, Vice President of Design, Barbie

Barbie's closet in "Life in the Dream House" is incredible, but it's also a nod to some of the past historical stuff. As she's walking in her closet, you see all of her career uniforms to firefighter, to astronaut, mixed in with her Vera Wang dresses and her Calvin Klein. It's really cute, it's a lot of fun. My favorite line from one of the previews was, "Barbie, you went to the moon?" "Yeah, you haven't?". It's just very hyper real, in Barbie's world it's anything and everything. - Cassandra Kroskrity, Mattel's Director of 3-D Design

We partner with local charities often to create one of a kind dolls, because as you can imagine, being a celebrity sometimes one day you're in and one day you're out. Because our development schedule is 12 months to 16 months ahead, usually the best way for us to do a celebrity doll is to do a one-of-a-kind that we can execute in six weeks. Most recently we did Katy Perry. We worked with her stylist to create a look that was her essence. So we worked with Johnny Wujek (who we love!) and Katy to create that famous cupcake dress that she wore on her European tour. We have also partnered with Janet Jackson who is just an incredible fashion and music icon. And we also partnered with Nicki Minaj last year and we have some new exciting partnerships that should be released in the next few weeks that we can't talk about! I think Tim Gunn is the one that we are really excited about at the moment. We always try to have just a few fashion collaborations just to keep Barbie relevant and on the cutting edge of fashion. We also had an amazing collaboration with Louboutin. The shoes are so coveted, even the Barbie-sized shoes are incredibly coveted! We are bitter sweet to have had our collaboration with Twilight for the last few years, and we are coming out with a brand new selection of dolls to support the last movie, as well.  - Peter Helenek, Vice President of Design, Barbie

There's nothing I love more than turning up the latest pop hit and dancing around the Dreamhouse. Right now, I can't get enough of Rihanna, Taylor Swift, and of course, Britney in Scream and Shout. - Barbie

It’s all about the accessories for Barbie. A perfectly placed hat, a pair of supersized shades or even a girl’s best friend can do wonders for an outfit. - Peter Helenek, Vice President of Design, Barbie

I think Barbie is known for having amazing fashion and hair play. Whenever you go to any focus group and you put dolls in front of girls or moms, they do one of two things - they either start brushing their hair first or they take the clothes off. So Barbie is really known for having great style and great hair so it's really just core to who she is and what she represents. - Peter Helenek, Vice President of Design, Barbie

We make [new clothes] every spring and fall, so generally two seasons each year. Then we have lots of designer collaborations where we partner with designers around the world to create Barbie's newest looks. Our most recent one, which has been very successful, has been our Tim Gunn collaboration. We partnered with Tim to kind of create some looks for the modern working women. It represents lots of iconic signature style which Barbie is very known for. - Peter Helenek, Vice President of Design, Barbie

I can’t live without my… sisters! Stacie, Skipper, and Chelsea mean the world to me. That being said, I’m all about the LPD (that’s little pink dress for those in the know), fashion changes, but pink never goes out of style. I’m also completely obsessed with my iPhone –are you dolls on Instagram? Heels! I simply can’t live without them. Oh, that and my Doll-mate. Not only is Ken the ultimate dream date, he's my very best friend! And a girl just can’t leave home without her passport these days. The Dreamhouse may be in Malibu, but this doll has gone global. From the cafes of Paris and Buenos Aires to the kaleidoscope of colors in Hong Kong and Jaipur, you just never know where I’m headed next. - Barbie

We are very inspired by everything we see on the runway from Paris to Milan. We generally, for our main line product, we take the images and the imagery and the style and trends and we kind of filter it down because our general age target is between a four to eight-year-old girl. We take what might be a little sexy on the runway and filter it to something a little more appropriate for our age target. Our fashion designers are always inspired everyday by what they see online, what they see on the runways, what they see in the magazines and what young Hollywood wears. - Peter Helenek, Vice President of Design, Barbie

My favorite Barbie is from the early 90's and her name is Totally Hair Barbie. She had the longest hair ever and a fantastic Pucci inspired dress. - Peter Helenek, Vice President of Design, Barbie

[My favorite places to shop] really depends on my mood. Of course I heart Saks’ fifth floor as much as the next heel loving doll, but a lot of my fave pieces are actually from small independent boutiques. For me, it's all about mixing-and-matching to create your own signature style! - Barbie

Every girl can appreciate a beautiful white dress, and Barbie is no expectation. While having modeled countless wedding gowns from Vera Wang and Badgley Mischka to Carolina Herrera and Monique Lhuillier (just to name a few!), Barbie and Ken are in a really good place, happy in their current relationship status as boyfriend and girlfriend. Oh, and of course Ken continues to be the perfect boyfriend for every occasion. - Peter Helenek, Vice President of Design, Barbie

My favorite accessory is my CHANEL sunglasses! Every California doll needs a perfect pair of sunnies! - Barbie

We have so many different products in the line. We have a general main line which goes to major US retailers. We also have collector product that is targeted towards an older target which is slightly more expensive, and really speaks to the quality of the fashions of the looks that we create. So literally its hundreds and hundreds of looks each season that Barbie and friends sports. - Peter Helenek, Vice President of Design, Barbie

My most memorable concert? Madonna! I've never missed a tour! - Barbie

Barbie is the oldest, and then there's Skipper, Stacie and Chelsea's the youngest. We actually have a new series, it's called "Barbie's Life in the Dream House" and it's an animated reality web series. It has really cute, kitschy humour, so even if you're an adult you can enjoy it, but it's really geared towards younger girls; it's adorable. You get to see the sisters personalities come out a lot. They're their own family, they have unique personalities. Skipper's kind of the techy one, she's always got her latest gadget, is into the music and Internet stuff, Chelsea is the youngest sibling and loves everything and animals, and Stacie's definitely more the athletic one and loves to play sports, and Barbie of course is the older sister figure of them all. You can really see all of their personalities shine through, and that's the first time we've really given the girls their own unique personality. It's such a strong voice, and it's really playful because it really does play up the fact that they are dolls. - Peter Helenek, Vice President of Design, Barbie

All Barbies have the same size shoe, so they can interchange shoes. Shoe play is a part of fashion play, which is so important! We try to keep Barbie's size consistent with every doll that we do season to season, so that you can mix and match the fashions that you may have with your favorite pieces from last season to go with your favorite pieces from this season. Also, all of her friends are the same size as she is so they get to share clothes! She can't share with all of her sisters, but she can with all of her friends. She has three sisters and each one is a different age and different size, so sometimes they can do hand-me-downs. - Peter Helenek, Vice President of Design, Barbie

While the spring season sees everything from graphic prints to neon brights, Barbie is always looking for anything with some sparkle and shine. - Peter Helenek, Vice President of Design, Barbie