English Version | I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world

Inspired by the world's most famous doll, Fashion has come up with a name for the most feminine trend of all: Barbiecore. Yes, this is going to be a Barbie summer.

Life in plastic, it's fantastic." The song never leaves our heads. At least once a day, the tune sneaks up on us. While we're parading through the frozen food section to take refuge from the heat. "You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere." Flipping through Vogue on the beach, face up in the air. "Imagination, life is your creation." Twenty-six years after its release, Aqua's Barbie Girl is the song of the summer. But it's not just the music, Barbie herself is having a cultural renaissance. Since the release of the iconic doll's eponymous movie was announced, her popularity has been growing. In the world of fashion, this is manifested through Barbiecore. The rise of this trend is inseparable from Valentino's Fall/Winter 2022 collection, where Pierpaolo Piccioli introduced Pink PP. The color, orchestrated in collaboration with Pantone, is a sort of successor to the brand's classic red. However, if its ancestor was a symbol of elegance, the pink hue has an enthusiastic vitality. The color, which according to Piccioli is an ode to individuality, monopolized the collection in which it was introduced. From long coats to sequined minidresses, the impact of these 81 looks was such that, according to Lyst, searches for pink clothing and accessories increased by 152%.

If Devil Wears Prada (2006) had been filmed twenty years later, Miranda Priestley's speech about Oscar de La Renta's cerulean blue would instead be a lecture about Valentino's pink. Introduced during Paris Fashion Week in February 2022, Pink PP quickly trickled down to the mainstream. The hue became synonymous with chic and, eager to capitalize on the trend, fast fashion brands quickly debuted their versions of the color. But Piccioli wasn't the only booster of Barbiecore. A few months after the color's debut, the first images from the Barbie movie (2023) emerged. It was the perfect storm. In these pictures, Margot Robbie was not content to play a role, the actress was the literal embodiment of the doll. Against a monochrome backdrop (where the pink came dangerously close to Pink PP), Robbie was behind the wheel of a convertible of the same hue. The internet went into a frenzy. On TikTok, impatient teenagers began recreating the few outfits that the stills and photos from the shoot showed.

The growing interest in the Barbie aesthetic has overflowed the boundaries of the world wide web, spilling onto red carpets. From Gigi Hadid at the Prince's Trust Gala to Glenn Close at the Met Gala to the likes of Anne Hathaway, Naomi Campbell, and Billy Porter, in the months since its debut, Pink PP has dominated celebrity style. But after months at the top of the collective obsession, there was only one option left for the hue: the inevitable dethronement. The color, designed to represent individuality, became a symbol of conformity. Barbiecore survived the fatigue of Pierpaolo Piccioli's cloyingly sweet collection. Cloying is the proper adjective as, after too many red carpet appearances, hot pink has become a faux pas. The final nail in the coffin was Sebastian Stan who, at the Met Gala with the theme Gilded Glamour, wore a suit that was too casual for the occasion.  Perhaps driven by the widespread enthusiasm for the Greta Gerwig-directed film, the aesthetic survived. It should be noted that Piccioli was not the first to use the Barbie aesthetic. In 2015, Jeremy Scott created a doll-inspired collection for Moschino - a commercial success that, over the years, has become something of a cult collector's item. Olivier Rousteing also made a collaboration that united two of pop culture's most powerful Bs: Balmain X Barbie. 

Surprisingly, it's the campier side of Barbiecore that over-lives. This one isn't just about one shade, it's the hyper-femininity of the doll that is essential. Yes, pink is central, but other components stand out: vibrant colors, girly silhouettes, and floral patterns. It's not just the movie's eager fans who are keeping the trend alive, the fashion world is perpetuating its sovereignty too. The La Vacanza collection, which brings together Versace and Dua Lipa, reinterpreted the Italian brand's most iconic archives. Pink sets, butterfly-patterned dresses, colorfulOrotonn wallets - it couldn't be more Barbiecore. Other brands have always had a Barbie feel to them and are therefore enjoying a resurgence in popularity. We think of brands like Shu Shut Tong, Are, or Nensi Dojaka. 

Although Pink PP has retired from the red carpet, the trend is still present. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, the protagonists of Barbie (2023), are its most faithful representatives, but even celebrities like Beyoncé get their feet wet in Barbiecore. For her world tour, the artist included an opera dress and gloves covered in bright pink sequins, created by her brand Ivy Park. Barbiecore doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. For more than a year, the trend has remained at the top, a feat almost impossible in today's algorithmic world, where trends last as long as the TikToks that introduce them. The explanation for this can be explained by factors such as nostalgia. We venture to say that the aesthetic has outlived the toy that inspired it. The trend is not based on a 30-centimeter plastic figure, but on a lifestyle where the world is seen through pink lenses. It is undeniable that there is a slightly problematic side associated with the Barbie image. The doll, with her tanned skin, blue eyes, and impossible golden hair extensions is the definition of Eurocentric beauty standards. We don't, however, have much space to think about the more controversial side of the aesthetic. As soon as these criticisms arise, the pestilent voice of Aqua sounds again: "I'm a Barbie girl in a Barbie world. Life in plastic, it's fantastic..." 

Translated from the original on The [Un]Popular Issue, published July 2023.Full stories and credits on the print issue.