The most hyped movie of this summer, Barbie, had its first official press outing yesterday at CinemaCon, a convention where members of the film industry come to promote new films.
Barbie’s leads, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, were both in attendance, alongside “human” (non-Barbieworld) cast member and Ugly Betty alum America Ferrera, and writer director Greta Gerwig.
During the cast’s appearance to promote the film, there was talk of “Kenergy”, discussion about the Barbie World sets and a sprinkling of extra insight into the highly protected plot of the movie — as well as the revelation that Noah Baumback (Gerwig’s co-writer and partner) loved the script so much he wanted to direct it himself.
A lot was being shared on the CinemaCon stage, but all anyone could think about was the outfits. After all the hype over Barbie and Ken’s costumes from the film, which first went viral thanks to paparazzi shots of filming in June 2022, we finally got to see how Barbiecore translates into real life via the medium of Robbie and Gosling, who made it clear they’ll be bringing a bit of Barbie doll chic to each press outing.
Robbie looked right at home in a pink gingham Prada co-ord, consisting of a bralette and matching skirt, paired with Barbie pink peep-toe heels. The pattern and colour of her look is not too dissimilar to one she wears in the actual Barbie movie — a pink gingham dress — as she brushes her hair and waves hello to Barbie World.
Gosling, for his part, opted for a hot pink bomber jacket by Acne Studios, black jeans, lace up suede Wallabees and, the piece de resistance, a slogan tee which said “Written and directed by Greta Gerwig” in the iconic Barbie font.
This isn’t the first time Robbie’s red carpet looks have come under intense analysis — there was much speculation earlier this year over whether Robbie had ended her contract with Chanel as their brand ambassador, leaving her free to explore more clothing choices.
So the hype for the Barbie press tour (and especially the premiere) is twofold: what will Robbie pull out of the bag, and will we be bombarded with baby pink Chanel bouclé skirts and blazers throughout?
Historically, Gosling has been considerably less adventurous in his red carpet and press tour styling, usually opting for cool colours, well cut suits and funky patterned jumpers with jeans.
However, he has broken out his mould since playing Ken, something he admitted during the CinemaCon talk. “I have to be honest, I had up until this point, I only knew Ken from afar. I didn’t know Ken from within,” he said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “If I’m being really honest, I doubted my Ken-ergy. I didn’t see it. Margot and Greta, I feel like they conjured this out of me somewhere.”
Let’s hope and pray that Gosling’s Kenergy continues throughout this promotional period. With Barbie set for release on July 21, we have roughly three months’ worth of pink-centric press tour outfits to look forward to.
