Margot Robbie explains why there were five incredible Chanel looks in the film and what she borrowed from Claudia Schiffer
If you watched the highly anticipated Barbie movie over the weekend, you might have noticed that Margot Robbie’s titular character was dripping in Chanel.
It turns out the renowned French fashion house actually joined forces with the creators of the summer’s hottest film. Throughout the movie, viewers were treated to five distinct fashion designs graciously provided by the maison, thanks to the collaboration and support of Chanel’s creative director Virginie Viard.
“Oscar-winning costume designer and friend of the House, Jacqueline Durran, was given a selection of outfits from the Ready-to-Wear, COCO BEACH and COCO NEIGE collections,” Chanel explained, “The five featured silhouettes were chosen to highlight the Barbie character as she moves through her journey in the film.”
The film, which was of course directed and written by Greta Gerwig, features Chanel’s house ambassador, Margot Robbie, who takes on the role of the iconic global icon. “Everyone, it seems has some sort of associated memory with Barbie, whether it’s good or bad. Everyone knows Barbie, the Barbie legacy is so intrinsically tied with fashion brands throughout history and wearing something high fashion definitely feels right for the character,” explained Margot Robbie about the collaboration, “The concept of the toy is that it comes in a box with a hat and a bag and the shoes and the bracelet. Chanel has so many options when it comes to accessories. So it did help get into character. It felt right for the character.”
Margot also revealed that she wore archive Chanel pieces for the character, “There were some incredible outfits that I actually got to wear that Claudia Schiffer herself who’s kind of like a real life Barbie wore. In fact, one of the archival suits that I wore had the little label saying Claudia on it.”
One of the standout moments was Barbie’s pink purse which Margot also discussed, “I remember even on set, there was this one look where I have a pink love heart shaped Chanel bag. And I remember like all the girls on set were like, can I hold it?”
The live-action interpretation of Barbie cleverly employs humour and fantasy as powerful tools to address contemporary feminist issues in a lighthearted and intelligent way. Critics have widely praised it for its thought-provoking messages that challenge the status quo. Something Margot is acutely aware of. Margot said: “I thought it would be exciting to do something like this with Greta Gerwig who I think not only has the ability to honour a 60 plus year legacy of a brand but also have a current cultural conversation.
At the same time, people are gonna find this movie very, very funny and surprisingly emotional and definitely, definitely fun to look at.”Chanel was also a key brand for Margot’s unparalleled Barbie press tour wardrobe, (which will remain burned in our imagination for quite some time) we rounded up each time the Australian star channelled Barbie’s distinctive sartorial arsenal in real life.
