PRINT HEAD: Barbiecore rules, but for how long?
PRINT BLURB: With the recent release of 'Barbie', the doll's big-screen debut has seen fashion, interiors and everything in between take on a pink-coloured hue, but is it sustainable? Sandiso Ngubane reports
You would have to be detached from reality to not know a Barbie movie is on circuit. That’s right. The 64-year-old Mattel doll has her own Margot Robbie-starring, Greta Gerwig-directed big-screen adaptation. It opened in South Africa on Friday. If the memes, social media chatter and box office predictions are anything to go by, Barbie is already one of the year’s biggest blockbusters, with a projected $80m (about R1.4bn) box office opening weekend.
In the Bloomberg-reported words of Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz: “It’ll be very hard to be on planet Earth and not know this movie’s coming out.”
Kreiz is the man responsible for getting Barbie on the big screen, having defied Mattel executives who thought a cinematic turn would hurt the brand. This logic seems out of step with reality, considering the oceans of evidence that selling well-known intellectual property to Hollywood studios works wonders (see Marvel and Transformers).
The trend’s emergence
As we witness Barbie’s dominance of popular culture everywhere from fashion to interior design, there are signs that Barbiecore, the hot pink trend that derives its name from Barbie’s affinity for it, will remain a staple for some time. I say “remain” because the trend preceded any mainstream chatter about the movie, with some observers tracing its emergence back to Valentino’s autumn 2022 ready-to-wear collection. The 81-looks collection was predominantly pink and soon social media trends, specifically on TikTok and Pinterest, pointed towards the popularity of this bright hue.
On Hollywood red carpets, magazine covers and Instagram feeds, everyone from Gabrielle Union, Emma Chamberlain and Kim and Kourtney Kardashian to Anne Hathaway and Lizzo turned up in hot pink. Robbie — Barbie herself — has been spotted in the shade many more times than anyone in the past year, probably as some form of subliminal marketing strategy. The movie’s release only serves to further intensify Barbiecore’s mainstream appeal.
This resurgent obsession with Barbie (and pink) — following years of plummeting sales as Mattel seemed unable to regain mainstream cultural relevance — can also be found in interior design. In 2022, Architectural Digest specifically noted the “hyper-pink” trend permeating the worlds of interior and furniture design. Barbie’s dream house, anyone?
A more mature approach to the trend
It’s worth noting that a slight variation of the colour — Viva Magenta — is Pantone’s colour of the year, with the institute noting that it is a “pulsating colour whose exuberance promotes joyous and optimistic celebration ... It is an animated red that revels in pure joy, encouraging experimentation and self-expression without restraint.”
For the adults in the room, who might find Barbiecore hot pink a bit too imposing, perhaps Viva Magenta can serve as a more acceptable option for tapping into the escapism of this trend cycle.
Many observers attribute to the desire for escapism to the pandemic, meaning Gerwig’s Barbie is right on time to tap into our nostalgia. This is what the studio is hoping will put bums on seats, with adults who grew up with Barbie dolls queuing alongside much younger girls hoping to catch a glimpse of Barbie’s fantastic-plastic world.
Barbie’s future relevance
It’s a boon for Mattel, recapturing the cultural zeitgeist after years of losing market share to the likes of Bratz as Barbie failed to remain at the forefront of social progress.
Last century, Barbie, with her ambition and high-flying career, served as a vision of what the future may look like for little girls, but in a world where their mothers have themselves become empowered, that role became obsolete. Barbie couldn’t quite find her pink stiletto-heeled feet in the context of being just one of many symbols of female aspiration. In the 2010s, attempts at tapping into diversity — a burning social issue — by releasing dolls of different races and body types helped, but only a smidgeon. Last decade was simply too late as the Bratz had already stepped into that vacuum as early as the 2000s.
Reports say sequels to the Barbie film are planned, so only time will tell if the brand can remain relevant. In essence, will the film franchise continue to rely on the nostalgia of yesteryear’s little girls, who are today much older women, or will it find resonance with a new generation? One that is empowered, but continues to face challenges in the form of regressive laws (for example, the US Supreme Court overturning the right to abortion) and stubborn social ills, such as the gender-based violence that plagues South Africa. For now, though, with a trend named after her and her first theatrically released film taking flight, Barbie and Barbiecore rule the world.
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