If you work in the fashion industry, a fashion-adjacent industry, or are simply a human being with access to the internet, I imagine you, like me, reenact Steve Carell’s reaction in this clip every time the phrase “Barbiecore” is uttered in your presence.
And while Margot Robbie appeared to have put her Pink PP phase behind her at the close of last year (recall her chocolate Schiaparelli dress at the LA premiere of Saltburn), she made a fuchsia appearance as Superstar Barbie in Giorgio Armani Privé at the Golden Globes.
Praise Ken, then, that at the AFI Awards Luncheon on 12 January, she came back towards the light (I can only assume that Jo Koy’s monologue ruined anything and everything even vaguely Mattel-related for her forever). Robbie—whose relationship with Chanel is definitely not without its detractors—reaffirmed her fashion plate status with stylist Andrew Mukamal, truffling out a look originally modeled by Claudia Schiffer at Karl Lagerfeld’s SS95 show for the French house.
With the exception of some Manolo Mary-Janes and a smattering of Jessica McCormack jewelry, the erstwhile Clapham resident recreated the original outfit to a tee, complete with a Gripoix brooch and crystal logo belt.
Lagerfeld had already been at the helm of Chanel for more than a decade when this presentation was staged against a Côte d’Azur-inspired backdrop during Paris Fashion Week, with every supermodel worth her bone structure slipping into designs that intentionally pushed the notion of “good taste” to its very limits. Miniaturized tweed suits and sliced-and-diced LBDs were paired with bedazzled bras and thongs; Kristen McMenamy strutted down the catwalk holding a Chanel bag constructed from Astroturf; and chain belts were adorned not just with gold double Cs but framed photos of Coco Chanel in the ’20s and ’30s. And for the grand finale? Lagerfeld paid tribute to a photo of Mademoiselle on the shoulders of Ukrainian ballet star Serge Lifar by having pearl-strewn models carried aloft down the runway.
For her part, Margot Robbie may have made her way down the red carpet on her own two slingbacks, but the look was still the most refreshing of palate cleansers after months of saccharine-sweet fashion from the starlet. More of this, please.
