The Barbie Universe Comes to Life With a Luxury Twist From Balmain at Neiman Marcus
Stephen Garner
News Editor
Balmain’s much-talked-about collaboration with Barbie is getting the dollhouse treatment at one Neiman Marcus store.
From now through Jan. 30, customers can sit on Parisian park benches and interact with the limited-edition collection in a pedestrian garden at the Neiman Marcus NorthPark location in Dallas, Texas.
According to the luxury retailer, customers will also be able to enjoy weekend activations that include a live DJ set, a custom cotton candy machine and photo opportunities in a life-sized Barbie doll box.
The limited-edition 70-piece collection, which retails between $295 to $42,494, Balmain’s signature marinière and Labyrinth pattern gets the Barbie treatment. For this collection, Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing applied assorted shades of pink, from blush to fuchsia, to a range of emblematic Balmain styles including sailor sweaters, tailoring in satin or tweed, denim jackets with demonstrative gold buttons, intricate cocktail dresses and a fishtail evening gown. There are also lots of easy T-shirts and sweatshirts with graphics cribbed from 1970s packaging, plus jeans with a disco flare.
Accessories are inventive hybrids of Balmain’s signature bags and the groovy windowed cardboard boxes that housed the toys back in the day.
And there are a number of exclusive styles at Neiman Marcus, including a Maxi Monogram Dress for $8,495, a Boat Neck Balmain Printed Sweat Dress for $1,395 and an Oversize Denim Jacket with Embroidered Badges for $5,350.
“I love how the inspiration truly flowed both ways for this special Balmain-Barbie partnership. It’s easy to spot how my design team and I have riffed on the very-familiar flair, colors and graphics of the Barbie universe,” said Rousteing in a statement.
“We have heard from many of our customers that they want to have fun with fashion again. The special partnership between Balmain and Barbie does that and more,” added Lana Todorovich, president and chief merchandising officer for Neiman Marcus. “As Neiman Marcus continues to innovate the ways in which we engage with our customers, we are thrilled to partner on an exclusive pop-up experience that celebrates the excitement of playing dress up and brings a modern multi-cultural take on the Barbie brand to our Dallas NorthPark location.”
If you can’t get to Dallas to experience the full Balmain x Barbie universe, the collection will be available online at Neimanmarcus.com and in select Neiman Marcus stores.
