“Real artificial” is the term “Barbie” writer/director Greta Gerwig and “Barbie” producer/star Margot Robbie often use to describe the aesthetic of the film, which finally opens this weekend after endless anticipation. Barbie is an attempt to celebrate the falsity of reality – that is, a physically constructed world that doesn’t actually exist in real life except in doll-sized plastic. Production and costume designers Sarah Greenwood and Jacqueline Duran did it with aplomb, but now we’re also seeing Robbie himself embodying that spirit in red carpet outfits: delightful carousel looks, all high-fashion interpretations of Barbie costumes from yesteryear – real and artificial! Among them were the Valentino polka dots, a nod to pink and fabulous Barbies, and perhaps most notably the sequined black Schiaparelli columns, which almost exactly replicated the Barbie in the spotlight (Solo). When Robbie joined us via Zoom, before the SAG-AFTRA strike began, she was again fully committed to what we call method dressing, wearing a butter yellow Chanel tweed mini snowboard rt suit and a Cher Horowitz-inspired Malibu bag. She talks to us about the shooting set just outside of London, and the sheer joy of going from the gray British weather to the kaleidoscopic pinks of the studio. Robbie’s production company, Lucky Chap, who masterminded the film, set the “we wear pink on Wednesdays” rule (an ode to Mean Girls ) on set, and the cast and crew happily participated.
