‘Barbieween’ is taking over Halloween this year

NEW YORK – The traditional black-and-orange Halloween palette is about to turn hot pink. And retailers are bracing themselves for “Barbieween”, the Halloween takeover that is dubbed by influencers.

Barbie is set to be the third-most popular Halloween costume for adults, after witches and vampires, and among the top 10 for kids, according to The National Retail Federation (NRF).

It has never ranked in the top 10 for either age group since the NRF began asking consumers about their holiday plans in 2004.

Licensed costumes, off-brand duplicates and do-it-yourself (DIY) interpretations will feature heavily in the US$4.1 billion (S$5.6 billion) Americans will shell out this year on their outfits, part of the record US$12.2 billion they will spend on the holiday.

“Barbie mania has taken over Halloween and people are really pent-up to do these looks for the season,” said Mr Drew Griffiths, the divisional vice-president of marketing and social media at Spirit Halloween, an American costume and accessories chain.

“Pink and Barbie are going to be a big part of that US$12.2 billion.”

Spirit has already sold out some of its licensed costumes, including both adult versions of the Barbie and Ken neon in-line-skating outfits, and is currently limiting sales of some looks to two per order.

Retailers like Target, Walmart and Amazon.com are selling licensed costumes, while Amazon is also full of third-party retailers hawking unlicensed copies of the movie’s most popular looks using cleverly worded titles such as “cowgirl outfits” and “movie cosplay dresses”.

“Barbieween” builds on the economic boost from the Barbie movie’s theatrical run. The Warner Bros release is the top-grossing film of the year so far, taking in

US$1.4 billion globally at the box office

and making Greta Gerwig the first American woman with sole director credit to have a film pass the US$1 billion mark.

Fans latched onto the film’s feminist storyline and its originality as a film by and about women and womanhood. It also sparked a slew of partnerships from Airbnb to Microsoft’s XBox looking to capitalise on the film’s popularity. 

The holiday is going to be more than pre-fabricated costumes. Creators on TikTok are urging followers to lean into the community around the movie by wearing variations of the same costume or prepping for an Oct 31 flash mob by learning a dance featured in the film.

Some revellers will really latch on to the uniformity of Barbieworld. “The whole point is not being ‘not like other girls’,” one TikToker named Hannah said in a video that has been viewed more than 1.1 million times.

Retailers can expect Halloween-goers – guided by the DIY costume tutorials proliferating on TikTok – to pick up items to create these looks as well as those inspired by Mattel’s animated films. Influencers are already tweaking their Amazon Storefronts to help followers source the necessary tutus, fairy wings and tiaras.

Meredith Heika, a costume designer in California, posted a TikTok clip pointing out that costumes based on the animated films or one of the many dolls is a way to hit the Barbie trend, but also show some originality.

For her part, she is planning an outfit inspired by the 1984 Peaches ’N Cream Barbie.

“There are so many looks that Barbie has,” said Heika. “A lot of girls have been saying they want every girl to be a Barbie this year, and I like the idea of everyone being a different Barbie.”

As for Barbie’s would-be paramour? He is just Ken – but plenty of costumes are available for him as well.  BLOOMBERG