Editor’s letter
As I write this in Bazaar’s central-London offices, the air is ringing with the screams of pink-clad young women, thronging the edge of a bubblegum-coloured carpet, on which I can see Margot Robbie striking a glamorous pose in a rose-coloured satin gown trimmed with marabou feathers.
I have to admit that it is disconcerting for me to see Barbie hailed as a post-feminist icon. When I was growing up, I longed for a doll of my own, but my liberal-leaning parents considered Barbie’s curvaceous figure and revealing attire to be inappropriate and retrogressive. I was fascinated therefore to read our interview with America Ferrera, who co-stars in the film and has long been a vocal campaigner for the rights and representation of women and minorities. On page 114, she talks to us about her decision to participate in Barbie’s evolution, while on page 186, the psychoanalyst Anouchka Grose takes on the current Barbiecore fashion trend. She explains how women have always used their attire to challenge and subvert the status quo – and why it still matters.
It has been a while since I was at school, but nevertheless September remains fixed in my mind as an invigorating month of fresh starts, sharp pencils and new uniforms. It seems appropriate that, on page 190, we talk to four dynamic women – the model Helena Christensen, the designer Rejina Pyo, the actress India Amarteifio and the writer Selina Mills – who have each taken the opportunity to strik
