i will admit it. If you never have to see pink Barbie goodies again. Even if you never get an email promoting how to “Barbieize” your wardrobe, celebrating the “pink eyewear essentials” from Zara x Barbie or Balmain x Barbie or Privé Revaux, or shouting “warning pink maniacs” ever again. I’d be happy if I never typed “Barbie” into the Google search bar again and got pink fireworks and a pink results page.
I know this may not be the popular opinion. But after a full year of buildup (photos of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in neon rollerblade outfits were released in June 2022), 100 official brand partnerships why variety Dubbed the “pink publicity machine,” the movie has made “Barbie” more box-office hits than any film ever directed by a female director (be prepared for more stories about the power of the “pink purse”), and after the climax of opening weekend when audiences flooded theaters wearing their own Barbie pinks, I’m almost choking on pink. dyed pink.
Ready to drink pink Pepto Bismol, but it’s pink too.
Now we know why Issa Rae is President Barbie himself. — during the actor’s pre-strike promotional tour, announced She said she intended to “burn” all the pink. And once the excitement for the movies wears off, I can’t help but wonder if we’ll see Barbie’s pink era as a kind of pop fashion hallucination. Whether the Barbie hype has sowed the seeds of pink’s destruction in a rush to embrace the color, to reclaim it as a triumph of ironic feminism, is to be seen.
It wasn’t always like that. Initially, Barbie’s pink revival was evocative in a high-camp, post-modern, and conceptual sense. It was a way of rebuilding a relationship with Pink, poisoned by gender-stereotypical marketing in the 1970s.
David Batchelor’s 2000 book cover has a reason.color phobiaargues that Barbie pink is the color historically considered feminine and anti-intellectual.
“Pink is the most controversial color in the history of fashion,” said Valerie Steele, director of the Fashion Institute of Technology Museum and author of Pink: A History of Punk, Pretty and Powerful Color. “It has so many contradictory meanings. It has completely entered our bloodstream like a virus and now various subspecies keep emerging.”
“Barbie” seemed to usher in the third stage of the historic Troika. First up was Millennial Pink, a soothing Dusty Her Rose Her Pink that reflected both generation and gender to the innocence of childhood.then bright pink cat hat pink, rebellious, pink feminine protest visible on the face. And now, Barbie Pink is the most artificial, commoditized, almost tacky, unmistakable pink of all pinks. He is number 219 on the Pantone color chart.
Liatrice Eisman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, said this pink is considered a ‘hot pink’ and is a descendant of its ‘mother color’ red, taking on some of the dynamism, energy and theatricality of red, but softened somewhat to make it less aggressive.” Also, she said it’s a “can’t ignore” pink.
While celebrating women’s multi-layered realities, the film also imbues it with new meaning: from the most banal and cheesy girl power to the most complex. Even those who were less receptive to the color in terms of their wardrobe can appreciate and appreciate its irony.
Except its meaning was drowned out in the ensuing marketing turmoil. It’s starting to feel like a pin exploitation. Even politicians see pink as a strategic tool, whether it’s Gretchen Whitmer and her Governor Barbie, or Kirsten Cinema and her Governor. twitter (She posted a picture of her twins in hot pink and glasses to show off her “Babenheimer” appeal), so maybe you need a detox. After all, there are other colors in the film as well. Butter yellow, baby blue, that neon, burgundy, etc. Neither this film, nor the women it celebrates, should be denigrated.
I know I’m not the only one who thinks so. During a preview with Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli at an haute couture show in Paris in July, he did more than anyone to popularize very, very bright pink thanks to his Fall 2022 show. The collection consisted almost entirely of “pink PP”, which has become a red carpet hot trend among celebrities like Anne Hathaway and Zendaya, but I asked him if he’s riding the Barbie wave and incorporating more pink into his collection.
He frowned slightly and shook his head. He did a custom look (a polka dot halter mini) for Margot Robbie’s press tour, but aside from that, he said, “I preferred to stay away.” Once it was a declaration to be pink, but twice it was…well, a box.
Similarly, at Schiaparelli, synonymous with Shocking Pink, the 2022 exhibition at the Museum of Decorative Arts is “shocking!‘s current designer, Danielle Rosebery, chose Yves Klein Blue for her couture show.
and in the latest issue australian voguewith Ms. Robbie on the cover, the actress isn’t wearing the copious amounts of pink she modeled for in the magazine’s June issue. american vogueBut goth-pleated red Balenciaga, clear plastic Rabanne and, above all, black: Gucci in black, Louis Vuitton in black and Chanel in black.
Even she seems to be pink.
