Early sketches and classic dolls highlight Barbie‘s dedication to costume accuracy in new movie images. Margot Robbie stars as one of many Barbies in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming film based on the Mattel toy series of the same name. After being expelled from Barbieland for being imperfect, Barbie must embark on a journey into the real world to find her true purpose in life.
Speaking with Vogue, Barbie‘s costume designer Jacqueline Durran shares early character sketches inspired by classic dolls that highlight the film’s dedication to costume accuracy as seen in new images.
Durran explained she used various Barbie dolls as inspiration for several character outfits, as well as designs from various periods throughout the 20th century. For example, Barbie and Ken’s (Ryan Gosling) vibrant rollerblading outfits were taken from 1994’s Hot Skatin’ Barbie doll. “Ken is kind of a subsidiary of Barbie. So Hot Skatin’ Barbie is the influence on the rollerblading look in the real world, and Ken just has his own version,” Durran detailed.
Barbie Will Honor The Iconic Toy Line
Instead of simply using Mattel’s Barbie doll line as a scapegoat for societal problems regarding the representation of women, Gerwig’s film appears to use the iconic toys in a daring coming-of-age tale that explores modern feminity from a unique perspective. Trailers and early set images show the film’s dedication to recreating Barbie’s brightly-colored aesthetic, even resulting in an international pink shortage. The film built a life-sized Barbieland set completely inspired by the various toy sets and themed-Barbie’s from the doll’s history. However, it is how Greta will use and contextualize Barbie that may truly honor the legendary franchise.
Gerwig recently admitted her upcoming Barbie film is inspired by Mary Pipher’s 1994 book Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls, a collection of case studies used to investigate society’s pressures facing young girls during their maturity. The acclaimed writer-director of Little Women and Lady Bird will likely use Barbie, a figure created using antiquated feminine stereotypes, as a way to explore societal pressure for women in the modern world. With Robbie’s Barbie stepping out of her perfect toy land into reality, the immense culture shock is a wonderful tool to examine how women’s role in society has evolved throughout Barbie’s history.
Set to compete with Christopher Nolan’s epic biographical film Oppenheimer, Barbie has already proved to be popular on social media. Following the movie’s latest trailers and character sheet releases, memes and parodies have flooded various social platforms months before its release. With Barbie skating into theaters July 21, audiences don’t have to wait long to see if the iconic doll finally finds her place in the world.
