Barbie movie praised for 'sophisticated interpretation of Barbie fashion'
The 'Barbie' movie featured "a sophisticated interpretation of Barbie fashion", according to a fashion historian.
Karan Feder is an expert in Barbie fashion who has written the upcoming book 'Barbie Takes the Catwalk: A Style Icon's History in Fashion' and believes Greta Gerwig's movie, starring Margot Robbie, got the iconic doll's style exactly right.
Speaking to PEOPLE, Karan said: "I thought it was really a sophisticated interpretation of Barbie fashion, and embraced the love of the doll and the fashion history.
"[Costume designer Jacqueline Durran] didn't make things comically oversized, even though she could have because she was dealing with dolls. She didn’t make the buttons huge. You didn't see huge zippers out of scale. They were oversized, but they weren't comically large. I appreciated that little decision because I know that was a decision. You could have taken everything to scale and it would've been comical. And that I'm sure would've distracted from the narrative as a result."
Karan was also impressed by Chanel's collaboration with the 'Barbie' movie.
She said: "I thought that the Chanel statement was super great. The Barbie fashion designers’ mission was always to reflect culture. Their charge was, 'Let's look at the catwalk. Let's look at what people are wearing on the streets. Let's look at what celebrities are wearing. Let's look at what's going on in culture.' All these things merged to define what Barbie actually wore. Barbie got her first Chanel skirt suit in the late ‘80s, and it was a mid-calf version of that Chanel skirt suit. The replica Barbie outfit [in the movie] is pretty close. It's not hard to say, 'Oh yeah, that's a Chanel look.'
"I love that Chanel raised their hands and said, 'Okay, we're with Margot anyway. We want to give you guys whatever you need.' I just think that combination and that collaboration between the brands — Barbie and Chanel — and then also that Margot was already on the Chanel team, I think that just really works. There's a lot of chemistry there, but it also makes perfect sense for the heritage of the brand too."
