How #Barbiecore is bringing gender extremes back to the forefront of fashion

7 July 2022

Did you think that gendered fashion was a thing of the past? Well, that wasn’t counting on the power of influence of the world’s most famous doll. With the Barbie movie currently filming in California, the pop culture icon is imposing her signature style on the catwalks, red carpets, and social media, re-establishing the most stereotypical girly looks.

The post-pandemic period is ultimately quite surprising! Not only many women have decided to move on from the comfort of sweatpants to embrace more extravagant clothing styles, bright colours and mismatched patterns, but some of them are choosing to dress like Barbie...

Pink is the new Black

Dubbed "Barbiecore", the trend imposes all things pink, ultra-short, ultra-tight and ultra-kitsch, the exact opposite to non-gendered fashion. The #Barbiecore wardrobe is stereotypical in the extreme - channeling fun, glamour and ramped up femininity - close to the aesthetic of the video of late-1990s Barbie Girl song, by Danish band Aqua, that was an ode — albeit an ironic one — to the dream life of the popular plastic doll.

This aesthetic, inspired by Barbie’s world, above all translates into an explosion of pink, a colour already adopted by a host of stars across the Atlantic. Megan Fox didn’t miss the opportunity to step out in the shade when attending the premiere of the documentary about her dear and beloved Machine Gun Kelly, aptly titled "Life in Pink." She took to the red carpet in a Barbie-esque outfit. An experience that she repeated the following days on the streets of New York.

But the American actress is far from the only one taking style cues from Barbie. Hailey Bieber posted a picture on Instagram showing her wearing an outfit directly inspired by the world of the famous doll — a pink skin-tight mini-dress and XXL platform boots. Similarly, the now blonde Kim Kardashian went as far as accessorizing her metallic pink outfit with a matching handbag adorned with multiple glittering embellishments. Meanwhile her sister Khloe posted pictures of herself looking like Barbie in a pink latex minidress with pink shoes and blonde locks.

After two particularly gloomy years, the idea is to show off and have fun, summer being the ideal season to do both.

A lasting trend?

This is precisely what could make this trend last! life of this born! Born with the first images of the filming of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, the #Barbiecore wave could survive the summer.

The fall-winter 2022 shows proved a real ode to pink, starting with Valentino, which splashed the shade on dozens of looks, both in women’s and men’s styles. But the fashion house isn’t alone in bringing pink to its collections. Michael Kors, Versace, Act No. 1 and Dolce & Gabbana are among the brands that hope to keep pink-tinted fashion on the agenda for a few more months.