Barbie Fashion Takes Off — Inside the Delightfully Anti-Reality Hot Pink Fashion Trend

When storied fashion house Valentino presented its Fall/Winter 2022 PP Collection at Paris Fashion Week, it turned heads, and fashion writers and devotees alike were simply tickled pink. You see, the runway at Le Carreau du Temple in Le Marais was dipped in pink lacquer for Valentino’s ready-to-wear show. Valentino creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli stripped the palette down to a single hue ― which was shockingly — hot pink.

Valentino touted its all-pink collection as “a liberation from the need for realism.” If there has ever been a time in history that society needed that kind of escapism, that time is now. Pushing the pause button on reality and rushing headlong for fantasy has been thoroughly embraced.

For good reason. We have all had way too much reality in our everyday lives. Valentino reignited a dormant trend known as Barbiecore with that show last spring, and it shows no signs of slowing.

If you’ve noticed a bit more fuchsia pink, head-to-toe ensembles stepping off the catwalk and into real world, you’re not imagining things. Barbie Girl fashion seems to be having a real moment.

Tracking a Pink Fashion Trend

Pinterest is even reporting spikes in searches across beauty and fashion, following the first images revealing Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling who will play Barbie and Ken in the upcoming live action Barbie movie, scheduled to be released in 2023. Robbie and Gosling were seen channeling the fluorescent pink 1980s Barbie aesthetic on the set of the Warner Bros. movie ― decked out in rollerblades, aerobic gear and fanny packs.

“The iconic Mattel character has been around for decades but her impact across the fashion world still remains to this day,” Pinterest’s head of fashion Jessica Payne tells PaperCity. “Most recently, the new Barbie movie has sparked a Barbiecore revival, with people switching up their summer wardrobes with a splash of hot pink for the ultimate dopamine dressing.”

Payne has some pink Barbie stats to prove it:

— Barbiecore is heading straight to makeup bags with a 30 percent increase in searches for pink eyeshadow on Pinterest.

— There has been a 60 percent rise in searches for pink lipstick. If Barbie taught us anything, it’s that indelibly pink lips go with any outfit.

— Searches for “Barbie outfits” on Pinterest have increased by 75 percent, while leg warmers searches have increased by 90 percent, and 1980s fashion hits have doubled in recent weeks.

— Pinners are seeking out pink nails 75 percent more and bouncy blow dry hairdos 80 percent more often than usual.

“We’ve noticed fashionistas on Pinterest look to the iconic blue leg warmers and platinum blonde updos to replicate their own Barbie and Ken, signaling the Barbie aesthetic is clearly here to stay this summer,” Payne notes.

Other celebs including Zendaya, Lizzo, Kim Kardashian and Hailey Bieber have also embraced the trend, having been spotted dressing in pops of hot pink, from pink elbow gloves to pink push-ups and pink tights worn with pink heels.

Are you Barbiecore to the core? It seems it’s now stylish to be a Barbie Girl once again. Will you embrace this trend too?