Greta Gerwig's 'Barbie' Set Caused a World Shortage of Pink Paint, Production Designer Says

"I wanted the pinks to be very bright, and everything to be almost too much," said the director

BY Allie GregoryPublished Jun 2, 2023

It seems we're all about to be Barbie girls in a Barbie world, as audiences gear up for the hotly anticipated arrival of Greta Gerwig's Margot Robbie-starring Barbie movie on July 21. Second to the heat of that hype is that of the film's pink set, which apparently sequestered a sizeable portion of the world's hot pink paint supply.

As Gerwig shared in a recent interview for Architectural Digest, "I wanted the pinks to be very bright, and everything to be almost too much," adding that she didn't want to "forget what made me love Barbie when I was a little girl."

That aesthetic vision translated to a relatively monochromatic set design request for production designer Sarah Greenwood, who orchestrated the hand-painting of backdrops, opting not to use CGI for Barbie's vast universe. ("Everything needed to be tactile, because toys are, above all, things you touch," Gerwig explained.)

The hue of choice wound up being a fluorescent shade of Rosco paint, reportedly causing a worldwide shortage; Greenwood explained, "The world ran out of pink."

Maybe this is what finally puts an end to the practice of gender-reveal parties?
 

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