Last week I came to the conclusion that culture was experiencing a declining interest in Margot Robbie’s Barbie. That is because most people have seen the film and most people have outlived its months-long marketing plan. But it was also because the SAG strike had ended and Robbie had been seen wearing brown—a color that feels spiritually opposed to pink—on the red carpet. For a brief moment it seemed as though we had outlived the term Barbiecore…but I was mistaken.
Last weekend Warner Bros held a special Q&A screening of the Barbie movie—for the few people on earth who had not yet encountered it—which meant Robbie wore pale-pink feathered pajamas and doll-like Manolo Blahnik heels. She then attended a panel discussion at the Director’s Guild of America—where, in a stunning turn of events, she discussed Barbie—dressed in a cherry-printed shirt and turned-up jeans from Bottega Veneta, itself a simulacrum of the Cherry Pie Picnic Barbie from 2015. I imagine it took some effort for Robbie to revisit the plastic optimism of Barbie after all these months.
I think this because Margot Robbie is otherwise cloaking herself in sensible hues of brown—see the Schiaparelli and Fendi couture gowns she dressed in last week—which felt like a psychic reset from all the retina-popping pinks she has been confronted with since first making the film in in March 2022. Robbie was photographed in that Fendi dress alongside Dua Lipa in a siren-red satin gown and a siren-like hairdo. If brands are taking ownership of a particular Pantone (think Burberry Blue, Ferragamo Red, Valentino Pink), it would now seem celebrities are beginning to do the same.
.jpg)
This article first appeared on British Vogue.
