If it seems like everyone is thinking pink these days, it’s not your imagination. Barbie-inspired décor—aka Barbiecore—is having a moment. A major moment.
Credit the resurgence to teaser shots of Margot Robbie. The actress is perfectly cast as the beloved doll in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Barbie movie, slated for release in July 2023.
Not surprisingly, the internet exploded.
As of this week, TikTok has registered a staggering 21.7 million views for #barbiecore.
It’s a major coup for the now 63-year-old doll, who owned her first Dreamhouse back in 1962—before women could open their own bank accounts, according to Mattel Senior Vice President Kim Culmone. “Barbie has always been a trailblazer.”
She’s come long way (baby) from the cardboard furnishings in her original mid-century pad. Barbie’s current Dreamhouse has an of-the-moment indoor/outdoor focus, complete with pink pool slide and rooftop deck.
It’s a seamless fit for the iconic doll’s lifestyle. “Barbie needs a little spot for relaxing, since she does have over 200 careers, so she is very busy,” Culmone added.
This isn’t the first time designers have embraced Barbie style. In 2009, Jonathan Adler created a real-life 3,500-square-foot Malibu Dreamhouse to commemorate Barbie’s 50th birthday.
“The great thing about Barbie is that she is whatever you want her to be, from Barbie the surfer to Barbie the business executive,” Adler told the Washington Post.
In interiors, Barbiecore “is a way for grown women to express their inner girl and a nostalgia for more innocent times.”
Etsy shop owners are all-in. Searches for hot-pink homewares are up 21 percent year over year.
“It’s all about embracing those vibrant hues and trying to think back to nostalgic times, when life was a little simpler and sunnier and a little more carefree,” said the website’s trend expert Dayna Isom Johnson.
At online marketplace Chairish, “the color pink is really coveted right now,” Noel Fahden Briceño, vice president of merchandising, told Clever. Case in point: 1980s bubblegum-hued chests are selling within a few days of being listed.
Paint is another way to channel your inner Barbie.
According to Andrea Magno, director of color marketing and development for Benjamin Moore, pink has gone more mainstream, breaking away from “that little girl kind of connotation.”
Still, she cautions: “A lot of colors may be fun for a skirt or nail polish, but when it’s color on the wall, it should be something livable.”
Sasha Bikoff, a NYC-based interior designer and Barbie aficionado, recommends a tone-on-tone approach. “Barbie mixed a lot of light pinks with hot pinks. Then I would add pops of different complementary colors that are very Barbie—aqua, canary yellow, and lavender.”
How much is too much? That depends.
If you can’t commit to painting a whole wall, start with a door or door frame. “That’s a super quick and easy Saturday morning project that can add so much personality in a room,” Bikoff added.
“I think that when you’re decorating for Barbie, you have to think really girly and really playful. You don’t take into account a man at all. Ken lived in Barbie’s world. He just stood there and looked hot.”
