Ken avatar wears dungarees and jumper by Balmain x Barbie®. Trainers by Balmain. Barbie avatar wears blazer and shorts by Balmain x Barbie®. Shoes by Manolo Blahnik Barbie®Avatars created by Forget Me Not for the Balmain x Barbie® collaboration. Sculpts provided by Barbie®
It makes sense that Barbie would wear Balmain. A style icon since the Eisenhower administration, she’s known to take some fashion risks befitting the French house. But the two are now betting that humans will want to dress in Barbie-inspired Balmain dresses, sweats, and bags. Creative Director Olivier Rousteing has created a genderless collection for adults, inspired by Barbie and Ken, that speaks not only to their tastes, but also to Rousteing’s childhood memories and hopes for the futures. “It’s not only the dream of a designer, it’s a dream of a kid, you know?” he says, adding that as a kid he was told not to play with the dolls. “That I can create a collection with Barbie today shows how the world has changed, and how good it feels to be free with yourself without being judged.”
Barbie x Balmain. Photo: Rob Rusling
Rousteing says he approached this project with two minds: one of a “kid dreaming of Barbie,” and one of a top designer. He took Balmain’s house codes—the Labyrinth monogram designed by Pierre Balmain in the ’70s, the shoulder pads, the oversized gold buttons, even some couture pieces—and incorporated them with Barbie’s visual world to create 50 items of clothing and accessories. In addition to the clothes, the collection is modeled by CGI dolls and three NFTs depicting Barbie and friends in Balmain will be auctioned.
Barbie avatars both wear Balmain x Barbie® collection and accessories. Avatars created by Forget Me Not for the Balmain x Barbie® collaboration. Sculpts provided by Barbie®
As for the pink, of which there is plenty, he created several shades and melded the more dusty pink he’s known for with Barbie’s signature bubblegum shade. One of his prized pieces is a replica of a dress he made for his Fabergé-inspired collection in fall 2012. “I reproduced it exactly in pink, with all the straps and padding and Swarovskis,” he says. On the opposite end of the spectrum of formality is his other favorite item: a sweatshirt with the Balmain logo in Barbie font. These pieces and the rest of the limited edition capsule collection will be available on January 13 worldwide. The collection itself ranges from US $295 to $42,494, prices that speak to the Balmain side of the collaboration.
Photo: Marie Rouge/ Courtesy of Balmain
This isn’t Rousteing’s first time working with Mattel, either. Barbie and Ken sat in the front row of a digital 2021 runway show, and the designer has made doll-sized clothes for her and the Claudia Schiffer Barbie before. Still, Rousteing calls this “a fun collection with a deep, deep message.” The main reason is that the collection is mostly genderless. After all, in a Barbie world, you can create your own rules. “You can be Ken and borrow the clothes of Barbie and Barbie can borrow the clothes of Ken,” Rousteing says, adding, “At the end of the day, you can create a society that is about freedom and not about stereotypes.”
Photo: Marie Rouge/Courtesy of Balmain
Originally published on Vogue.com
