She’s a Barbie girl living in a Barbie world; and now we can see the inspiration behind Margot Robbie’s iconic looks for the blockbuster film’s press tour – with a fascinating new book providing fresh insight into the cultural phenomenon.
After the press tour for Barbie was cut short due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Margot – along with her stylist Andrew Mukamal – wanted to immortalize the looks that Barbiecore swept the world with, giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at the iconic Barbie outfits that the public never saw and the design process behind it.
The beloved Mattel doll’s most famous looks – and how they came to life for the film – have been captured by renowned fashion photographer Craig McDean for the world to see in Barbie: The World Tour, released today.
Margot, 33, who played the famous doll in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie, wore outfits inspired by or designed as exact replicas of ensembles worn by the iconic doll as she promoted the film worldwide.
Barbie: The World Tour features Margot Robbie’s iconic press tour looks based on the doll’s most famous outfits, including ensembles never seen due to the SAG-AFTRA strike
Margot graced the red carpet in London in a pink satin dress by Vivienne Westwood with an embroidered tulle edge, paired with white opera gloves and a pearl choker
The duo share how they brought the Barbie looks to life perfectly, collaborating with some of the world’s best designers, collecting vintage pieces and drawing inspiration from Mattel’s archives to replicate the outfits or give them a modern twist. to indicate.
The book features the Barbie doll that inspired the outfit, as well as sketches and ideas that led to the final product, with Andrew describing the process as “like a jigsaw puzzle.”
“First we have to find something that I think Margot would look great in, and that she would rock, and that makes sense for 2023 and is the right amount of warm and cool for now,” he explained.
Andrew used the example of the stunning black fishtail dress the Australian actress wore at the world premiere in Los Angeles, California, inspired by the 1960 Barbie doll Solo in the Spotlight.
“Then, once we have the outfit, we identify who is the right designer for it, who feels like they would marry that idea really well,” Andrew explained. ‘The Solo in the Spotlight look was one of the first and we decided to combine it with Schiaparelli.’
“Daniel Roseberry has done such incredible things in his couture collections, and he obviously loves black, he loves proportion, he loves drama,” Andrew added. ‘And that dress has such an incredible and iconic shape, you’ll never see something like that in a modern collection.’
Andrew also recalled the “crazy emails” fashion houses received from him when he decided to recreate Barbie’s looks – and the fun they could have with it.
“When I first sent the request for Day to Night Barbie to Patty Chon, the head of press at Versace – who has worked there for decades and is iconic in her own right – she literally wrote me back within minutes,” he said . “(She said) ‘This is the nicest request I’ve ever gotten in my entire career.'”
“I just knew this was the kind of reaction everyone had when they opened these crazy emails from me,” the stylist added. ‘Where I take screenshots of Barbie shoes and send them to Manolo Blahnik – dead serious – “We have to recreate this shoe exactly.”
Margot wore a dazzling black fishtail dress, inspired by the 1960 Barbie doll Solo in the Spotlight, as she attended the world premiere in Los Angeles, California
Margot’s stylist for the tour, Andrew, recalled the ‘crazy emails’ fashion houses received from him when they decided to recreate Barbie’s looks – and the fun they could have with it
Margot wears an outfit inspired by the 1985 classic Day to Night Barbie for the film’s premiere in Seoul, South Korea
When their press tour in London was cut short, after attending premieres in: Sydney, Toronto, Seoul, Mexico City and London, the looks for Berlin Barbie, New York Barbie and Tokyo Barbie went unseen – and are captured in the book.
While Margot perfectly created Barbie’s glamorous and most iconic looks, the attention to detail was a labor of love and time.
‘There was a day when we made the biggest adjustment. It took ten hours, it was in a huge studio in New York because we needed so much space,” Margot recalls.
“Every wall and room and table, every surface was covered in jewelry and shoes and bags and accessories, and racks and racks and racks of clothes,” she continued, adding, “all the clothes were fluffy or feathery or sequined or metallic or tight-fitting.’
“You couldn’t walk in without your face lighting up,” Margot beamed. “And my assistant literally said, in a hushed, awed tone, ‘I think this is the best day of my life.’
Margot explained that they ignored the fashion rule ‘less is more’ when dressing for Barbie. “The whole approach to Barbie in the film was very maximalist and I feel like you can do that, Barbie allows you to do that – more is more with Barbie,” she explained
The stylist worked with fashion brands such as Chanel, Moschino and vintage Versace to create Barbie’s famous looks
The actress also added the one fashion rule they ignored when dressing for Barbie.
“The whole approach to Barbie in the film was very maximalist and I feel like you can do that, Barbie allows you to do that – more is more with Barbie,” Margot explained.
“You know the famous quote about taking off one thing before you leave? For Barbie, it’s the opposite: it’s like you need a hat and a bag, an earring, a bracelet and a shoe,” she joked.
Margot even shared a little piece of Barbie that she will carry with her forever, thanks to her style team.
“Andrew and the rest of my glam team gave me the little vintage Chanel diamond anklet I wore on the press tour on my birthday,” the blonde bombshell shared. “Now I get to keep that forever, and I love it.”
“This book is the culmination of tens of thousands of hours of work from some of the most talented and creative visionaries and designers on the planet,” Andrew wrote in a statement about the book’s release.
“Margot and I felt compelled to share this with the world,” he continued. “We hope you love it as much as we do.”
The Barbie movie starred Margot, as well as Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Will Ferrell, Issa Rae, Hari Nef, Simu Liu and Dua Lipa. Different versions of both the Barbie and Ken dolls will be portrayed, with actress Helen Mirren set to narrate the film.
The premise of the film – which grossed a whopping $1.45 billion worldwide – follows Barbie and Ken as they travel to the real world to find the true meaning of happiness.
Barbie: The World Tour will be released on March 19.