At first glance Margot Robbie’s hot pink run in Barbie doll fashion could seem little more than a surface level vanity project to promote the new flick.
But scratch the pink surface and Robbie’s blinding promotional tour closet has serious big business fashion implications.
Fashion experts are calling Robbie the poster girl for the “Barbiecore” fashion wave sweeping online fashion portals.
According to data from Klarna, search results for pink mini dresses have leapt 970% and pink swimsuits 682% in six months.
On Pinterest, searches for “Barbie Outift” are up 75%.
Perth designer Remi Lane has just launched her debut Barbie Pink collection under her Remi label.
Now Robbie finds herself the hardcore star of Barbiecore as she plugs Greta Gerwig’s movie around the globe.
And fashion stylist Shea Daspin says there is more depth to the pink wave than picture-perfect Barbie doll style.
“It’s easy to associate her with material objects and the colour pink, but I think she represents a lot more,” Daspin said.
“She represents ambition and female agency, and that can manifest in how someone dresses, or who they decide they want to become.”
The doll makers concur.
“For Barbie, pink represents limitless potential and is a symbol of female empowerment, which is such a perfect fit with the brand’s purpose,” Senior Vice President of Design for Barbie and Fashion Dolls Kim Culmone said.
It’s a theory Robbie has put firmly to the test. Transforming herself in pink for every occasion – from a business meeting to the dance floor.
Her business Barbie was on show in South Korea.
Robbie adopted the hot pink work of designers Versace, Judith Leiber and Manolo Blahnik in an all-pink and white combo accessorising with a scarf, sunhat and pillbox handbag.
Later that night the same designers were happy to turn her into fairy tale princess Barbie as she twirled in her tulle skirt in another for the red carpet movie premiere in Seoul.
For her swanky lunch day at Beverly Hills’ Four Seasons Hotel, Robbie tottered up in a polka dot pink and white Valentino dress to match the pink and white Cadillac she rolled up in.
And it was hot pink again when the 33-year-old Aussie star legged it to Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art for a Celebration Party in her spangled glitter ball Versace pink mini frock.
Shades of pink worked well too for her Barbie girl next door look when Prada gave her a cheque-crop top and matching mini to join her Ken Doll, aka Ryan Gosling, at CinemaCon at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
And forget wearing her heart on her sleeve. Robbie just likes to carry hers in the ultimate doll accessory of a pink studded heart-shaped bag. Robbie’s stylist Andrew Mukamal dug this look out from Moschino for the Seoul press conference.
There could be no more iconic pose than Barbie on the bonnet. Robbie squeezed into a spray-on print pink Valentino number to show off her matching pink corvette sports car to her pals and rev up the party.
For novices in the “Barbiecore” game, celebrity stylist Samantha Brown explains the fashion “is anything that references the fabulous world of Barbie…particularly in hot pink and bubblegum.”
Whilst some say the pink is fuelling female ambition culture journalist Christina Blinkley “Barbiecore” is also a chance to have fun.
“There’s a lightheartedness to it,” she said. “We’re ready to laugh at Barbie and not take her too seriously.”
“That lightheartedness also highlights confidence,” she said. “You feel empowered and comfortable in your own skin. You love yourself. You’re not afraid to express what you want and what you stand for.”