What is Barbiecore? A Fashion Editor Breaks Down How A Plastic Doll Became The Ultimate Style Icon

Alexandra Fullerton explains the fashion industry’s continued love for the nostalgic toy — right down to her signature hue…

What is Barbiecore? There’s a psychological reason why we can’t help but love every aspect of Barbie and her impeccable wardrobe.

As far as one-name icons with a penchant for reinvention go, neither Beyoncé, Madonna or Cher can hold a candle to Barbie. After 63 years in the limelight, it’s fair to say Barbie has dealt with more than her fair share of controversy – but she’s always done so in immaculate style. Whether running for president, exploring space or being immortalised by artist Andy Warhol, Barbie is always booked and busy. Yet 2022 looks to be her most in-demand year, ever.

It’s obvious that excitement is mounting for the upcoming Greta Gerwig-directed Barbie film. Scheduled for release in 2023, every leaked scene has the fashion world squealing with delight (not least at Ryan Gosling in Ken-branded lookalike Calvin Klein kecks…). However, just one strand of culture will never hold enough weight to create a trend with longevity. Hot pink has come to dominate the catwalks, the red carpet and our social feeds this year, thanks to Pierpaolo Piccioli, creative director at Valentino, who designed an autumn 2022 collection entirely in one shade of eye-popping pink. While it might look like it was designed in Barbie pink, it’s Valentino’s own Pantone-patented shade. Barbie has her own shade too, obvs (‘Barbie Pink’ is Pantone PMS 219.) In an interview earlier this year, Kim Culmone, SVP of Design for Barbie and Fashion Dolls said, “Pink has always been Barbie’s favourite colour.” According to Kim, for Barbie, “pink represents limitless potential and is a symbol of female empowerment.”

Pink also works wonders for perking up any lacklustre skin tone (seriously, hold a hot pink swatch up to your face.) That one catwalk show triggered a cascade of pink moments on celebrities… Kim Kardashian, Megan Fox and Lizzo have all been spotted in, respectively, Balenciaga’s baby pink lycra legging-boot hybrids, a tiny Nensi Dojaka minidress (with pink hair) and a fuchsia Valentino gown that was perfectly promready (complete with a headband and flickedout ends.)

The trend’s trickle-down effect is in full force and pink has washed over the high street. Not a day goes by that I don’t receive an email with ‘Barbiecore’ in the subject line and all things Barbie have captured the imagination of the nations. Searches for ‘Barbie’ are up 90 per cent on Pinterest, while on TikTok, #Barbiecore has had 14.7million views.

But what is Barbiecore?

We’ve seen Barbie in royal blue skirt suits on the election trail or lounging at home in a peach jersey co-ord. In 1986 Barbie became lead singer of The Rockers and wore a a suitably pop princess look (big shoulder pads and even bigger hair.) We know this girl can be anything and her style is truly chameleonic, but Barbiecore centres around fashion that is pink, shiny and fun.

Or, in the words of the pop band Aqua, “Dress me up, make it tight.” It’s no coincidence that the redux of Barbie style melds with the most trashy and kitsch elements of Y2K fashion to create a double threat of a trend. Paris Hilton wore a shocking pink slip dress, complete with tiara and fluffy Barbie-branded bag in 2001, but she wouldn’t look out of place in 2022. Likewise, Dua Lipa’s love of butterfly motifs echo the patterns on the Barbie Fashionista’s butterfly print dress. So retro yet still totally today.

“I loved Barbie. It’s hard not to; she’s practically perfect,” designer Jeremy Scott said back in 2014, after presenting his Spring 2015 collection for Moschino which dripped in Barbie references. “Her and I share the same things: We just want to bring joy to people,” he added.

“Searches for Barbie are up 90 per cent on Pinterest, while on TikTok, #Barbiecore has had 14.7 million views”

Therein lies the beauty of Barbie. She sparks joy. Barbie is all about the feelgood. Barbie offers anyone who dresses her an opportunity to escape and experience pure fun. Despite every social commentator opining on her lifestyle choices, it’s sometimes easy to forget that Barbie is still a toy.

Yet this little piece of plastic can bring unadulterated joy to every age group that gets their hands on her hard little body. Just looking at Barbie’s outfits makes you smile.

That’s partly to do with the prevalence of pink – a shade that has been proven to calm (prisoners have been made to wear prink in US jails to tone down aggressive behaviours) yet also delight. Bolder shades of pink are psychologically noted to cheer and incite optimism. How can you not break into a grin when you see photos of Margot Robbie rollerblading in the Barbie movie? Set on Venice Beach and owing more than a little inspiration to Hot Skating Barbie and her highlighter yellow kneepads, the look is a cacophony of fun.

Barbie has always been an accurate barometer of cultural tastes. In a US interview Kim said, ”Barbie is inspired by pop culture and fashion. Like many of us, her style evolves to be reflective of today’s trends and culture.” However her relationships with high-fashion maisons – as would befit her original profession as a teen fashion model – are always impeccable.

No other doll, or woman, would be able to choose from a wardrobe of legendary museum-worthy fashion looks including Saint Laurent’s Mondrian inspired shift dress, a Christian Dior New Look skirt suit or Jean Paul Gaultier’s cone bra dress (in olive green velvet). The fashion world has always fallen over themselves to create miniature versions of catwalk outfits for the doll, but the influence flows both ways. In 1995 Karl Lagerfeld created a collection in his role as creative director for Chanel that has come to be colloquially known as the Barbie collection.

Everything on the catwalk was shrunken, cropped or abbreviated to almost doll-like proportions on the Amazonian supermodels who wore the pieces. Toytown’s obsession with synthetics shone through as well – there were plastic macs and patent bags – along with rhinestone brooches and crystal-speckled bikinis. There was a Lolita-like mood as cropped cardigans in bubblegum colours were teamed with mini skirts, split to reveal matching knickers beneath (perhaps referencing Barbie creator Ruth Handler’s own inspiration, the adult-oriented German Bild Lilli doll).

“Instead of dressing up Barbie, when faced with the sometimes arduous job of adulting, we just want to dress like her”

The collection was a seminal meta-moment when life imitated art – and gave gravitas to the importance of a doll’s wardrobe to that of a grown woman (a grown-up Chanel customer, at that). Every girl who had a Barbie doll probably had some sort of first adult-dressing experience – apart from delving into mummy’s wardrobe – through Barbie. But the emphasis switches as we age and instead of dressing up Barbie, when faced with the sometimes arduous job of adulting, we just want to dress like her.

When Karl designed outfits for Barbie and Ken under his own name in 2009, he said, “Barbie is fun… she has represented for so many decades without really changing.”

While the Chanel show was nicknamed the ‘Barbie’ collection, for Spring 2015 Moschino, Jeremy Scott was more open about his inspiration. Also Barbie-themed and more obviously indebted to the icon for inspiration. “She’s a good big sister, she’s had every job in the world, worn every outfit,” he said at the time.

So Scott set about recreating some Barbie classics – a micro leather biker jacket and matching pencil skirt; polka dots the size of dinner plates and a mesh mini skirt co-ord, worn with matching bra and robe (and later spotted on Miley Cyrus), while Kacey Musgraves turned the Met Gala’s red carpet pink in a Moschino catwalk confection.

Let’s not forget that Barbie is a doll, a toy, an inanimate piece of plastic. Yet through her creation, she represents and reflects every era and moment in modern history. Today the fashion world, and the world at large, craves fashion that offers a distraction. Whether that’s the winsome florals and ruffles of cottagecore, which harks back to a time when we weren’t battling climate change. Or perhaps, this year’s hit of dopamine dressing – full of bright colour clashes and happy clothes.

If anyone knows how to cheer the mood with an outfit, it’s Barbie. And she has done almost all of it in heels. It took Barbie 56 years before she stepped off her tip-toes and was blessed with bendable ankles that allowed her to wear flats… Of course, they were feelgood and fabulous, because life in plastic really is fantastic.

By Alexandra Fullerton for Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s September 2022 issue.