Barbara Millicent Roberts, or better known to the world as "Barbie", was presented at the American Toy Fair in New York in February 1959 by Ruth and Elliot Handler, founders of Mattel Toys. Ruth originally came up with the idea while her daughter, Barbara, was playing with paper dolls. She realized that as her daughter grew and began to imitate adult conversations and the world around her, she also needed a three-dimensional representation of it. She shared her idea for a children's woman doll with her husband and Mattel's all-male management team, but they declined, saying it would cost too much to produce and would have little appeal to American audiences. . In 1956, while touring Europe, Ruth came across a relatively popular "adult doll", the Lilli doll. The Lilli doll is based on a popular character appearing in a German comic strip. The adult-shaped Lilli doll was exactly what Handler had in mind, so she bought three. She gave one to her daughter and took the others back to Mattel. Eventually, Ruth convinced the team to try developing this adult doll for children. Mattel has acquired the rights to the Lilli doll. A new body/mold was designed, a new concept was created (innocent, all-American image), and the doll was given a new name: Barbie, named after Handler's daughter, Barbara. white “zebra striped” swimsuit and ponytail with neatly curled bangs. The dolls were available as blondes or brunettes. She was billed as a "teenage model." She had her own clothing line specially designed by the Matell team (Charlotte Johnson). They created a wardrobe where each child could choose an outfit to create their own personality for Barbie; they therefore had to develop fashions to coordinate with the expectations and aspirations of society. Barbie was not a success at first. During and after the New York Toy Show, its sales were still not up to Mattel's expectations. Most buyers, accustomed to dolls, did not like Barbie's new adult look. When Barbie was designed and released, the doll segment of the toy market was dominated by other companies (Vogue dolls and Ideal Toy & Novelty Corporation). In order to deal with these two strong competitors and the question of the adult look, Mattel commissioned a toy study from Ernest Ditcher, a famous marketer at the time.