Get ready for a Barbiecore-flooded Halloween this October! Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster film keeps turning the world pink as Walmart, Target and Amazon prepare Barbie costumes for the spooky season

Oct 16 , 2023

Giann Chan in a Barbie box in Hong Kong this July. Photo: @chan.tsz.ying/Instagram

It seems like #Barbiecore is showing no signs of slowing down; retailers like Walmart and Target are bracing themselves for Halloween’s demand for pink-drenched costumes inspired by the Mattel doll

This is helped in large part thanks to Greta Gerwig’s Warner Bros Discovery Inc. film Barbie, starring Margot Robbie as the titular character, which turned the world pink this summer

The traditional black-and-orange Halloween palette is about to turn hot pink. And retailers are bracing themselves.

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. It’s 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 DIY interpretations will feature heavily in the US$4.1 billion Americans will shell out this year on their outfits, part of the record US$12.2 billion they’ll spend on the holiday.

A family takes a selfie in front of displays showing the Barbie movie title on the first day of the screening of the movie in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 7. Photo: Reuters

“Barbie mania has taken over Halloween and people are really pent up to do these looks for the season,” said Drew Griffiths, the divisional vice-president of marketing and social media at Spirit Halloween, a 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 of some of its licensed costumes, including both adult versions of the Barbie and Ken neon rollerblading outfits, and is currently limiting sales of some looks to two per order.

Retailers like Target Corp., Walmart Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. 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”.

Margot Robbie in a still from Barbie. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.

A Target spokesperson declined to comment on this story. Spokespeople for Walmart, Amazon and Mattel Inc., the maker of the iconic doll, did not respond to requests for comment.

The Halloween takeover, dubbed “Barbieween” by influencers, builds on the economic boost from the Barbie film’s theatrical run. The Warner Bros Discovery Inc. 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 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 Inc. to Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox looking to capitalise on the film’s popularity.