About 200 Barbie fans braved driving rain Wednesday afternoon as they headed to Rizzoli Bookstore in Manhattan for the launch of a coffee book celebrating the doll’s fashion history.
Inside, some took off their raincoats to reveal pink skirts, scarves, sweaters and blazers. Before a panel discussion began, they helped themselves to pink velvet cupcakes and rosé.
Two friends from the crowd, Carol Torre and Anahy Antara, reflected on their fandom.
“I don’t really know much about the book,” said Ms. Torre, an accountant. “I’m here because I love Barbie.”
“I’ve been going into thrift stores to try and pull off Barbie’s style since the movie came out,” added Ms Antara, a university administrator. “The truth is, many of us still want to be Barbie. Sure, I’m pro-bra and pro-feminism, but I still want to be like her.”
Published by Rizzoli and edited by Margot Robbie and her stylist, Andrew Mukamal“Barbie: The World Tour” explores the Mattel doll as a style icon. Its pages are filled with portraits of Ms. Robbie, star of Greta Gerwig’s film, wearing outfits such as a Givenchy dress inspired by Gay Parisienne Barbieand a throwback Miu Miu ensemble Evening Splendor Barbie.
Fabien Baron had the art direction of the project and the fashion spreads were photographed by Craig McDean. The book also includes handwritten tributes to Barbie’s cultural influence from designers such as Donatella Versace and Manolo Blahnik.
The evening’s talk, moderated by journalist Esther Zuckerman, featured Messrs. Mukamal, Baron and McDean.
Mr Mukamal said the book was arrested as a way to showcase looks that never made it to red carpets because of the months-long actors’ strike that led to Ms. Robbie’s world press tour for “Barbie.”
“That lit a fire under Margot and I to say, ‘Okay, well, we’ve got all these looks lined up, all these designers and brands that have lent their genius to our vision,'” said Mr. .Muqamal. “How can we do something to make sure that all of this is visible and remembered somewhere?”
After remembering cutting Barbie dolls with his sister as a boy, Mr Baron said he had included archival clips of the doll’s history in the book as a way to give her a “collage aura”. “Instead of just having pictures of Margot,” she said, “I wanted it to be like a diary, something she could have written herself. That’s why there’s handwriting everywhere.”
During the Q. and A. session, a fan asked why the book didn’t include clothes from “Dolls of the WorldBarbie collection.
“There’s a lot of room for misinterpretation if, say, Margot is wearing a kimono or something,” Mr Mukamal said. “Barbie is quite transformative, but there are people out there who might misinterpret that a bit.”
Afterwards, the three participants — who all wore black — sat at a table covered in pink sequins to sign books.
He was in the crowd Sally Singerformer editor of Vogue and newly appointed president of Art + Commerce at William Morris Endeavor’s fashion division.
“Some of the wackiest people I know are Barbie fans, and a lot of people on the fringes of fashion have always used Barbie as an incubator for their creativity,” Ms Singer said. “I always saw her as a kind of companion to self-creative, unique and innovative people.”
Michelle Mackliff, a fashion consultant, had brought one with her barbie doll from her own collection that was still in its box: a Donna Karan New York limited edition 1995 Bloomingdale’s Barbie. As she waited in line to sign her book, other fans gathered to catch a glimpse of the stylish doll, who was holding a miniature Big Brown Bag from the Manhattan department store.
“I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why I love Barbie so much,” Ms Mackliff said. “I guess it’s because I first started dreaming about what was possible in my life because of her. She was my first feminist symbol.”
“I still remember getting my first Barbie as a girl for Christmas growing up in Ecuador,” she added. “And you know what? I still have that doll to this day.”