Original title: Pink mania, is the ultimate form of Y2K 'Barbie style'?
Reprinted from: 1626 Selected Trends
If you mention what style is the most popular this summer, ‘ Dopamine wear ’ It is bound to be on the list, but with the popularity of Barbie, the word "Barbie core" is taking over dopamine and becoming a new traffic password on social media.
According to Google's search trend data, the number of searches related to 'Pink Fashion' has increased by nearly 100 times, and the number of searches for 'Barbiecore' has also increased by nearly 790 times in the week when the movie Barbie was released. On TikTok, topic tags related to pink and Barbie have been viewed billions of times.
Past and present life of 'Barbiecore'
Margot Robbie
The term 'Barbiecore', as its name implies, is a fashion style strongly related to Barbie dolls. With Barbie's trademark bright pink, it creates a bright and energetic pink style. In the current unique context, it also means the core of clothing that has appeal and conveys self-confidence and happiness.
Margot Robbie salutes the first Barbie look
The first explosion of Barbiecore can be traced back to the millennium. When we mentioned Barbiecore aesthetics in 2000, the "bringing goods" of Paris Hilton, an early online celebrity, was undoubtedly an unavoidable topic. In that era when there was no social media, Paris Hilton, with its own efforts, let the public see Barbie dolls into reality. Although at that time, the public had different opinions on her style, but now it seems that the foresight is self-evident.
Paris Hilton
Now, the fans of 'Barbie core' can be described as shining stars. Hailey Bieber, Lisa, Beyonc é and other well-known stars have also entered the arena to interpret different Barbie styles. Nicki Minaj, a fanatic, even changed his signature to Barbie.
Nicki Minaj / Beyoncé
Lisa/Hailey Bieber
The resurgence of Y2K in the past two years has undoubtedly paved the way for Barbiecore to turn red. If the Barbie trend in the millennium is introverted and elegant, then Barbiecore undoubtedly has more personality and boldness of this era. Everyone began to make a high degree of restoration of Barbie doll shape. With the help of such elements as bright Barbie pink, shining jewelry, bright sequins, Barbiecore was endowed with more confident characteristics.
The originator of Chaoplay in the early 20th century
Barbie
When we draw our attention back to the source of Barbiecore - the super IP of 'Barbie', it is not difficult to find the inevitability of its explosion. Barbie doll, which was born in 1959, became the "best seller" of that year with its subversive appearance. In order to avoid passing on the wrong values of excessive pursuit of figure to children, Barbie began to break the original stereotype and gradually moved closer to the normal posture. It is precisely through constant innovation that Barbie has become one of the few "evergreen trees for fun" in the past 60 years.
Kith x Barbie
Barbie has even created a road of fame that can be copied for modern hip-hop games. After having the first batch of fans, Barbie has begun to follow up and link with other brands.
In 1985, Barbie was co branded with fashion brands for the first time. In the next 20 years, Barbie, as the "originator of fashion play", has won the favor of many famous brands such as Dior, Vera Wang, Christian Louboutin, Moschino, and has become a hot fashion IP resource. Interestingly, some of the original Barbie still have high prices. I believe many trendy players are also familiar with this scene.
The Moschino x Barbie
Mattel, Barbie's IP owner, has become the biggest winner in this big movie. It has long been ready for Barbie's explosion and signed licensing agreements with more than 100 brands. It covers clothing, catering, games, social networking and other fields. It can be said that Barbiecore has broken away from the category of fashion and completed the mission of "all things can be Barbie powder".
Death Barbie Powder's Way of Counterattack
Margot Robbie
If the support of Barbie, a super big IP, is just a bonus to the popularity, then the success of Barbie's films cannot be separated from their own high-quality content. Among them, Barbie has a very high degree of reduction of the movie's live model, which is still talked about by fans.
In order to better restore and present this virtual IP in the film, Jacqueline Durran, who won the Oscar for Best Costume Design Award twice, practiced it in person, boldly condensed those symbolic fashion elements in the past 60 years, and transformed them into Barbie style fashion language. Those outskirts, bell bottoms, discos and body-building clothes that have come through time also let everyone entering the cinema feel the potential behind Barbiecore.
Margot Robbie's appearance in the film
Outside the show, Margot Robbie, the producer and lead actor, also paid homage to several classic Barbie models, which inspired more possibilities for Barbiecore. At the premiere in Los Angeles, Margot Robbie wore a sequined black dress from Schiaparelli to pay tribute to the classic style of the 'Solo in the Spotlight' Barbie series launched in 1961. At the premiere in London, Vivienne Westwood's specially customized satin dress was also impressive.
Barbie wind continues to blow
Chanel
When we look back at the shows of major brands in 2023, it is not difficult to find that the resurgence of Barbie powder has already been heralded. In the early spring holiday series released by CHANEL, the model wore a pink woolen short skirt, colorful sports shorts, and a suit jacket decorated with crystal sequins, showing the pleasure and delicacy of the holiday, and Barbiecore's aesthetics is ready to emerge.
Versace
Versace, another old fashion house, also refuses to be outdone, and cooperates with Dua Lipa, the singer of Barbie's theme song "Dance The Night", to create the "La Vacanza" series of clothes. In this series, Dua Lipa and creative director Donatella draw inspiration from the charm of retro disco and reinterpret the classic elements of Versace with modern design language. Among them, the short skirt with metal texture and the pink woolen suspender with a sense of leisure are full of Barbiecore style.
It is worth mentioning that Versace's contribution to Barbiecore's resurgence is not just the launch of cooperation series. In preparation for filming, Versace asked the stylist team of Barbie film to select the medieval style similar to the classic style. So far, this old Italian fashion house has also taken advantage of the trend of Barbiecore to radiate new vitality.
Obviously, the trend with Barbie as the core will grow stronger and stronger. It is difficult for us to define Barbie core as a single fashion style. In the current context, Barbie spirit symbolizes the unremitting expression of self and the celebration of individual differences. I hope everyone can be like Barbie, full of fighting spirit, active life, overcome many obstacles, but also have a bright smile.
