(
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"39792","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"150","height":"188","title":"Cassandra Kroskrity","alt":"Cassandra Kroskrity"}}]]Today's guest blogger is Cassandra Kroskrity, Mattel's Director of 3-D design, who will be our guest of honor at our final Barbie late-night event on July 29. Cassandra, an Indiana native now rooted in California, has the career most children dream about. She brings Barbie® and other famous Mattel toys to life everyday in her role at Mattel, Inc. Kroskrity leads the teams responsible for Sculpting, Face Design, Hair Design, Fashion Development, and Prototype Model Making. In short: She builds toys! During her time at Mattel, Kroskrity has worked on many of the company’s famous brands including Barbie®, Hot Wheels®, Monster High™ and Polly Pocket™.
I could not be more honored to write this today. As I sit here, I have an overwhelming sense of appreciation for the moment. I have a dream job making some of the world’s most famous toys for children all over the world, but thanks to my favorite celebrity client, Barbie, and the wonderful people I have met because of her, I’ve been asked to contribute in a small way to The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.
Growing up in southern Indiana, this museum has touched my life in many ways. My mother grew up just around the corner and visited regularly after school in the 1950s. As a result of her love for the museum, special occasions in our lives often meant a stimulating visit for me and my younger brother. I have amazingly vivid memories of the vintage doll and toy displays, the Ruben Wells steam locomotive (hearing the whistle on a recent visit took me back to being eight years old again!) and running up the ramps, begging Mom to hurry so we could get to the next exciting display. Now, a mother of two very inquisitive young boys, I take such pleasure in sharing the many treasures of today’s museum with them.
While the Barbie: The Fashion Experience exhibit was in the planning stages in 2009, I had the great fortune to meet our museum partners during a tour of the Mattel Design Center in El Segundo, CA. After sharing my personal connection to the museum, I then happily assisted in the collection and creation of several items that are now on display in the exhibit. Completely thrilled to now have this professional connection, I had no idea I would once again be invited to support our relationship with this amazing institution. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"39793","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"250","height":"194","title":"Barbie Workshop","alt":"Barbie Workshop"}}]]
Fast forward to today and I am incredibly excited to be a part of the Barbie Family Night festivities on Friday, July 29 and the Barbie Design-a-Doll Workshops on Saturday, July 30. Since I have the honor to oversee several of the teams that it takes to build a physical toy, I have worked with the Barbie Design team and The Children’s Museum staff to create a program of sharing and hands-on experiences to bring Mattel’s everyday efforts to guests of the Museum where you can expect to learn some of our secrets on how Barbie comes to life through the design process. Whether you or little ones in your life are fans, I do hope you’ll join me for a peek into Barbie’s world!
(Register for Barbie: The Final Fashion Experience here.)
