Green and gold and pink – How Barbie and The Matildas have created a tipping point
As the world turns Barbie pink, literally driving a worldwide shortage of pink paint, Australia is turning green and gold in support of The Matildas’ Women’s World Cup campaign. Our physical and digital worlds are awash with two clashing colour palettes that are seeding remarkably similar cultural effects.
Through the lens of Malcolm Gladwell’s seminal book The Tipping Point, Victoria Mackinlay, chief storyteller at House of Kitch, investigates how The Matildas and Barbie are driving major change in the field of female empowerment.
In The Tipping Point, Gladwell describes how sociological change happens when small actions (at the right time, in the right place, with the right people) create a ‘tipping point’– when a domino effect creates an epidemic of demand, sweeping through a population like a virulent virus.
Gladwell shares three laws in the Tipping Point. “The ‘Law of the Few’ is how an epidemic begins – when a few highly infectious individuals become viral vectors for a product by adopting it themselves and spreading the word,” explains Samara Kitchener, managing director of House of Kitch.
Mattel and Warner Bros. Discovery played a stroke of genius casting Margot Robbie (named one of Time’s most influential people and winner of Maxim’s HOT 100 for the last three years) in the titular role. Since she was first spotted rollerblading in fluoro at Venice Beach, buzz has been mushrooming. Margot wowed the premiere’s pink carpets with iconic Barbie outfits and, when word spread that she made the Barbie crew wear pink once a week while filming, everyone wanted to get in on the trend.
‘Barbiecore’ fashion has seen pink dominating catwalks and social media feeds around the world leading to high demand for pink high-street clothing. Cue: collabs with everyone from Balmain to Cotton On and Crocs.
