Chris Benz at Barbie’s Dream Closet
Photo: Getty Images
Pretty and pink: Models play dress-up in Barbie’s dream closet.
Covered in wall-to-wall pink, the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center was transformed into Barbie’s Dream Closet. With rock candy coated champagne flutes at the bar, a massive two-story closet filled with sky-high walls of pink shoes and models playing dress-up in Barbie's most iconic casual, career and couture outfits, this took life-size Barbie to a whole other level.
The room was lit up with soft pink light and pulsing with energy as Fashion Week goers piled in from the shows at the Lincoln Center tents across the street. It was like the Hogwarts of Barbie and you could see people being taken back to their childhood as they giddily played with augmented-reality mirrors that allowed them to try on some of Barbie’s most famous outfits.
With more than 1 billion pairs of shoes and 105 million yards of fabric gone into making her wardrobe, it's no wonder that Barbie has been a significant memory people's lives and a muse and inspiration to hundreds of designers.
Standing by the giant wall of pink pumps, with his neon pink hair blending into the surroundings, FashionEtc caught up with Chris Benz about his love for the iconic doll. "I love everything about Barbie. I think she represents something specific and central to so many different people and everyone can identify with at least one role of hers. I didn't have any growing up but my mom had two sisters, so when we went to their house I would be like "Wow, what's this?!!"
"I'm a Barbie girl in a Barbie world, dressed in plastic, it's fantastic..." was blasting through the speakers and everyone seemed to enjoy the throwback moment to play pretend.