Everything
When Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling were cast as Barbie and Ken, respectively, in Greta Gerwig’s satirical film adaptation of the iconic doll, we knew their Barbie press tour would be a sartorial tour de force.
But sadly, the internet jumped the pastel-pink gun, making the life-in-plastic Barbiecore aesthetic peak an entire year before the film’s release.
Thanks to the over-saturation of Valentino’s PP Pink and the 290.7 million TikTok users producing their own interpretations of silicon style, our expectations for a magnum opus of ensembles from the cast that slyly references Barbie’s history have been quashed.
Now, with Robbie and Gosling making their first red carpet appearance to promote the upcoming film, their attempts of channelling their characters through pretty in pink silhouettes are not the masterful displays of sartorial wit we were hoping them to be, but rather a borderline campy display of why the Barbiecore aesthetic climaxed and fizzled.
Taking to the stage at the 2023 CinemaCon, the pair gave new meaning to the phrase blonde ambition with their attempts to revive the lurid aesthetic slightly the miss.
Robbie appeared to lean into the executive realness category of Barbie’s wardrobe, donning a pink gingham check two-piece from Prada that proved she meant business.
Robbie departed from her signature Malibu beachy waves, opting for a simple straight style, which she parted to the side, meaning her look could do all the talking.
And shouting it was, with its wrap mini skirt and 1950s-inspired bustier contrasted with a black scallop piping clearly saying: “This Barbie is under contract to dress like this until July.”
Gosling on the other hand kept true to the film’s tagline, “She’s everything, he’s just Ken”, by opting for a Marlon Brando-inspired jeans and a tight-white shirt combination.
We give him props for wearing a magenta Acne Studios hoodie and a shirt emblazoned with the phrase “from director Greta Gerwig”, but we’re confident their respective outfit choices are proof that Gosling’s Ken will be riding on the coattails of Robbie’s Barbie.
Either way, it’s clear the Barbiecore aesthetic is bringing a saccharine Ken-ergy to 2023, whether we like it or not.
