Photo: Salvatore Dragone / Gorunway.com
An aesthetic based on a high-octane dose of color, style, and pretty playfulness is one destined to carry an influential, highly contagious air. Barbie-core seems to have permeated the whole of the fashion world (or at the very least, resort season), most recently evidenced by the cadre of Priscilla Presley lengths and pop star ponytails that punctuated the baby pink and blue ensembles on the Versace runway.
The show took place today in Cannes, cheekily towel-wrapped hair and metallic manicures teamed with polka dots and butterfly motifs in an aura of spirited glamour. But it was the mane volume—a combed-back bouffant that towered and flipped, along with voluminous updos of similar heights—that took the show to fantastical new heights, the sort of beauty imagined with exaggerated luxury in mind. Hair was set off by makeup looks from artist Pat McGrath, pouts painted in pinks, nudes, and brickish burgundies finished with a touch of luminous highlight, while cat-eye liner was furthered by copious lashes. In short, it, like the Chanel runway before it, offered an ode to Barbie and her full-on cultural resurgence, courtesy of Greta Gerwig.
To preserve the point in plastic, Dontella closed the show with co-designer and campaign star Dua Lipa, whose Barbie song “Dance the Night” is set to release this week. And though Lipa walked the runway in a sleek, banged blowout, the images released today promoting Versace’s La Vacanza collection find the pop star in the brand of high-slung (and high-drama) pony featured throughout the showing.
This article was originally published on Vogue.com
