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 giving 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 saw Barbiecore sweeping the globe, giving fans a behind-the-scenes peak into the iconic Barbie outfits the public never got to see and the design process behind them.
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, which is released today.
Margot, 33, who famously played the iconic doll in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie film, wore outfits that were either inspired by or designed to be exact replicas of ensembles worn by the iconic doll while promoting 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 that were never seen due to the SAG-AFTRA strike
Margot graced the red carpet in London in a pink satin gown by Vivienne Westwood with an embroidered tulle trim, paired with white opera gloves and a pearl choker
The duo share how they brought the Barbie looks perfectly to life, working with some of the world’s best designers, sourcing vintage pieces and drawing inspiration from Mattel archives to replicate or give a modern spin on the outfits.
The book features the Barbie doll the outfit was inspired by, as well as sketches and ideas leading 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 fantastic in, and that she would vibe with, and that makes sense for 2023 and is the right amount of hot and cool and now,’ he explained.
Andrew used the dazzling black fishtail gown the n actress wore for the world premiere in Los Angeles, California, which was inspired by the Solo in the Spotlight Barbie doll from 1960, as an example.
‘Then, once we have the outfit, identifying who is the right designer for that, who feels like they would marry with that idea really well,’ Andrew explained. ‘The Solo in the Spotlight look was one of the first ones, and we decided to pair 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 is such an incredible and iconic shape, you would never see anything like that in a modern collection.’
Andrew also recalled the ‘crazy emails’ fashion houses received from him while deciding on of Barbie’s looks to recreate – and the fun they were able to have with them.
‘When I first sent the request for Day to Night Barbie to Patty Chon, the head of press at Versace – who’s 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 most fun request I’ve ever gotten in my entire career.”‘
‘I just knew that was the kind of reaction that everybody was having when they were opening these crazy emails from me,’ the stylist added. ‘Where I’m screenshotting Barbie shoes and sending them to Manolo Blahnik – dead serious – “We need to recreate this shoe exactly.”‘
Margot wore a dazzling black fishtail gown, inspired by the Solo in the Spotlight Barbie doll from 1960, 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 while deciding on of Barbie’s looks to recreate – and the fun they were able to have with them
Margot wearing an outfit inspired by the classic 1985 Day to Night Barbie for the film’s premiere in Seoul, South Korea
When their press tour was cut short in London, 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 have been captured in the book.
While Margot perfectly pulled off Barbie’s glamorous and most iconic looks, the attention to detail was a labor of love and time.
‘There was one day where we did the most massive fitting. It lasted ten hours, it was in a giant studio in New York because we needed so much room,’ Margot recalled.
‘Every wall and space 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 and not have your face light up,’ Margot beamed. ‘And my assistant literally said, in the most hushed, awed tone: “I think this is the best day of my life.”‘
Margot explained they ignored the ‘less is more’ fashion rule 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 one thing off before you leave? For Barbie, it’s the opposite, it’s like you need a hat and a bag and an earring and a bracelet and a shoe,’ she joked.
Margot even shared a little piece of Barbie she’ll get to carry with her forever, thanks to her style team.
‘Andrew and the rest of my glam team gave me on my birthday the little vintage Chanel diamanté anklet that I wore on the press tour,’ the blonde bombshell shared. ‘That is now mine to keep forever, and I love it.’
‘This book is the culmination of tens of thousands of hours of work by some of the most talented and creative visionaries and designers on Earth,’ 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, but also Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Will Ferrell, Issa Rae, Hari Nef, Simu Liu and Dua Lipa. Various versions of both the Barbie and Ken dolls will be portrayed, with actress Helen Mirren narrating the film.
The premise of the movie – which made a whopping $1.45 billion worldwide – follows Barbie and Ken as they travel to the real world in order to find the true meaning of happiness.
Barbie: The World Tour will be released on March 19.