Mattel has announced the newest American Girl collaboration collection with Harlem’s Fashion Row and designer Brooke Sumpter. Sumpter, age 11, is the youngest designer to ever collab with the brand.
“I didn’t really like the clothes my mom would pick out for me, especially for school, so I started paying attention to what my grandma was doing on the sewing machine,” Brooke said.
She began learning to sew, though mastering the skill was not easy at first.
“Especially with my tiny fingers, just getting in-between and scared of the needle and everything but it was definitely hard in the beginning but as I got older and I started to grow up, it got easier,” Brooke said.
Brooke spent countless hours designing and making hats, gloves and dresses. Eventually, she turned her attention to her dolls and the clothes they wore.
“It just didn’t match their vibe or hairstyle or just in general the style of the clothing,” she said.
Her solution was to make clothing for the dolls herself. That eventually led to the release of her own clothing line for American Girl dolls.
The collection is now available via American Girl’s website.