Barbiecore has well and truly permeated fashion (or at least resort season), evidenced most recently by the Priscilla Presley-esque lengths and pop star ponytails that punctuated the baby pink and blue ensembles on the Versace runway in Cannes on Tuesday night.
A collaboration between Donatella Versace and Dua Lipa, the La Vacanza runway show in Cannes incorporated cheekily towel-wrapped hair and metallic manicures, teamed with polka dots and butterfly motifs. But it was the voluminous hair – combed-back bouffants and towering updos – that took the show to fantastical heights, the sort of beauty imagined with exaggerated luxury in mind. Hair was complemented by make-up looks by artist Pat McGrath, with models’ pouts painted in pinks, nudes and burgundies finished with a touch of luminous highlight, while cat-eye liner was further enhanced by copious lashes. In short, Versace’s runway show – like the Chanel resort 2024 runway before it – offered an ode to Barbie and her cultural resurgence.
Donatella closed the show with her co-designer and campaign star Dua Lipa, whose Barbie song “Dance the Night” is due for release this week. And though Lipa walked the runway with a sleek blowout of her own, the new campaign images for La Vacanza find the pop star sporting the same sort of high-drama ponytail that was a recurring theme on the catwalk.
