On Barbie, method dressing and marketing excess
If you’ve been watching the Olympics, you can’t have escaped the daily barrage of celebrity fashion and content tie-ins promoting the movie Wicked.
In the lead-up to the movie's release in November(!), Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have been filling our feeds and screens dressed in their trademark pink and green outfits, channeling their characters Glinda and Elphaba from the book-turned-movie. You may have also seen the somewhat odd Olympics content tie-ins featuring the actors channeling their characters with voiceover commentary, cheering on Team USA.
The method-dressing promo for Wicked (which looks like it could be a great movie, so don’t “@” me) actually started months ago - it all began with Grande and Erivo’s appearance at The Oscars in March. With Cynthia in her dominatrix/dragon-queen Louis Vuitton green leather gown and Ariana in her puffy pink “princess” Giambattista Valli dress, the “stunt” felt fresh because it was our first glimpse of the two of them together ahead of the movie. We’ve since seen them channeling their characters at high-profile events like The Met Gala. (These two genuinely seem to love each other, and I’ve no doubt they will both be amazing in the movie).
Even back in May, the idea of method dressing on the red carpet still had a novelty factor. But now? Now it’s getting a little tired, especially amidst the backdrop of the overt LVMH product placement throughout the Games. (The amazing
has a great synopsis of LVMH’s Olympics takeover, and how it opens the door for more brands to do the same, over at ).Honestly, the level of “marketing” of it all, the integration into the Olympics telecast, and the effort to feel “culturally relevant” feel excessive. Guys, the movie comes out in November, for God’s sake - are you going to give us these two in their good witch-bad witch outfits for another three months? This just in: the two have gotten the Barbie treatment courtesy of Mattel. Here are Erivo and Grande meeting their doll alter-egos.
Another reason why it all feels like a bit much? When Margot Robbie did her Barbie-themed fashion tour to promote the movie last year, Method dressing was a relatively new thing—an actor channels their character from a movie, takes cues from its fashion sensibility, and is styled accordingly. If you’re Robbie’s stylist Andrew Mukamal, you have access to an archive of Barbie looks throughout the ages, so you can change up the fashion sensibility from red carpet to red carpet. And while there was a lot of pink on last year’s press tour, the fashion journey through the decades allowed for variety.
Not only did Mukamal pull looks that referenced Barbie, but he also pulled Barbie-adjacent vintage fashion looks, such as the amazing pink knit turtleneck and metallic pink miniskirt from the Versace f/w 1994 collection. Those who know, will also know that the outfit was featured in an iconic Versace supermodel campaign from 1994. For fashion lovers, these references are like candy and add layers of storytelling that make a celebrity appearance that much more interesting. I will never not be here for a supermodel moment.
Meanwhile, the looks so far on Grande and Erivo have been fairly one-note - especially for Ariana, who is not interested in straying from her go-to pink confection, befitting her “Good Witch” persona. Erivo’s stylist Jason Bolden has delivered some more interesting looks for Cynthia, who appears to be more keen on taking risks with her fashion. This Thom Browne ‘fit was divine, as was this structured Louis Vuitton gown and hat. Erivo has at least been delivering some outfit diversity - going from serving tenniscore vibes to “evil lady-who-lunches.”
I have to note that this is in no way a knock on the stylists or designers the celebrities are dressed in. Stylist Jason Bolden is one of my favourites of the moment, particularly for his work with Nicole Kidman. (That Met Gala look? Simply spectacular.)
But when it comes to Wicked, I think the point the movie (and the book and Broadway show before it) is trying to make is that women are complex; they are not defined by any one thing. And this fashion is giving one thing. It’s a lot easier to reduce characters to black or white or good versus evil, hence the reduction of the characters of Glinda and Elphaba to pink and green. The audience will get it right away. But after a while, it gets a bit boring. So I do hope they change it up, or at least take a break from the red carpet for a while.
Overall, when it comes to marketing a big property like Wicked, you need to know when to show restraint as a brand or intellectual property. It seems like every brand or IP wants to be the next “Barbie” and is recreating that strategy note-for-note. But as a brand, you need to know when to tone it down because people see that “marketing machine” you’re deploying, and they’re not loving it.
Lastly, where is our Barbie moment this summer? The movie we can all collectively bond over.
Oh yeah, Barbie was a once-in-a-lifetime event that can’t be recreated, so maybe we should avoid replicating the way it was marketed, too.
Small Bites
By the numbers: Gen Z and Gen Alpha-beloved pimple patch brand Starface sells 200 packs of its hydrocolloid Hydro-Star patches per minute, according to Vogue Business. Though the stars have become a fashion statement, the brand just launched clear Hydro-Star pimple patches based on customer feedback.
This week in not-great marketing things: Like
, I want to know how much money they paid Demi Lovato to make an ad jingle about shampoo, specifically about OGX. Because this song? A summer anthem, this is not. (Btw, check out Jessica’s podcast “I Heart Mess” here.) This week, she goes deep on “Wikifeet”—an archive for foot fetish lovers(!)—which is equal parts fascinating and peculiar.One more thing: If you’re an art, design and fashion nerd like me, you need to check out this incredible “Index of Aesthetics” from the Cari Institute. It’s a visual archive of just about every aesthetic movement from the 1960s to today. Thanks to for sharing this gem. Brb, I’ve gone down a “Synthwave” rabbit hole.
I feel absolutely terrible for saying this, but I'm already tired of the pink and green constant combo to promote Wicked. And I'm exited for Wicked! But with Barbie it was taking from a different Barbie moment each time and the details were so thoughtful. Maybe I'm not studying the Wicked looks enough, but the theme seems to be pink + green. I want more details. Each look is great on their own and I loved it at first but now it isn't doing anything for me. I need a fresh wow.
loled at " for God’s sake - are you going to give us these two in their good witch-bad witch outfits for another three months"