For Aneeth Arora, founder and creative director of Péro, a collaboration can begin with an unexpected connection and evolve into something entirely its own. With Dream Dress-Up, her Spring/Summer 2027 collection created in collaboration with Barbie, Arora explores the joy of dressing up through Péro’s playful approach to colour, craft and nostalgia. Think prints, crochet, lace and handcrafted details, all coming together in a wardrobe that looks beyond Barbie’s signature pink. The collection makes its debut today at the opening show of Lakmē Fashion Week. Ahead of the showcase, we caught up with Arora to talk about the collaboration, the ideas behind Dream Dress-Up and reimagining an icon through Péro’s lens.
ELLE: How did the Péro x Barbie collaboration come about, and what made it feel right?
Aneeth Arora (AA): I have always believed that it’s the universe that brings people together and makes these things happen. Of course, the universe had a role to play, but we had done Hello Kitty just a year back, and I think Barbie came to us because they saw how we had handled Hello Kitty.
With any collaboration that comes our way, if we feel connected to it in some way, it eventually starts to make sense. Even if we’re a little doubtful in the beginning about how we’re going to approach it, because every brand has its own identity, the process helps us find our way. At Péro, we do extensive research before we even venture into something new. And the more we studied Barbie’s history, when and how it started, how it has evolved over the years and how it became an icon, the more the collaboration began to feel right.
I think when an iconic brand like Barbie believes that Péro is the right match, that in itself makes the collaboration feel right.
ELLE: Tell us about Dream Dress-Up. What was the starting point?
AA: I think we all know that Barbie has an extensive wardrobe. From the time she first appeared to now, everybody has been dressing her up.
Every child who gets a Barbie opens the box and the first thing they do is start dressing her up. Péro has always had a childlike approach to what we do, and there’s also a lot of nostalgia in what Péro is about. I thought we could approach this in the same way as a child who has just got a new Barbie. If we had to create a new wardrobe for her, what would a Péro wardrobe for Barbie look like?
That was our approach. We didn’t want to be restricted by the idea that Barbie is all about pink, and we didn’t see that as a limitation. We studied her wardrobe and how it had changed over the years. There was jersey, denim, florals, frills and flounces. It gave us the opportunity to create a collection that was so versatile that, as the clothes passed by on the runway, everyone would find something or the other for themselves in the Barbie wardrobe we had created.
ELLE: The collection uses the idea of the box. What does it mean to you, and how does it show up in the clothes?
AA: We are using the box as a metaphor, and I think there’s an instinctive quality to it. You get a Barbie, open the box and start dressing her up the way you want her to look. If a child wants to become a teacher, they play ‘teacher teacher’ with Barbie and dress her up as a teacher. Today, Barbie has so many offerings, from a teacher Barbie to a doctor Barbie.
For us, the box became a metaphor for the idea that every box is meant to open and every boundary is meant to be broken. It’s about freedom of expression, about each of us having an individual style rather than following a stereotype. It’s not just about following what’s happening in fashion, but also about how we express ourselves in the world around us.
The idea behind the show is to make you feel as though you’re inside a big pink Barbie box. Within that space, you’ll see boxes opening one by one, revealing the looks. Barbie has this underlying message that you can be anything. What we’re trying to say is that you are already everything. You have the freedom to express yourself through the way you dress, and there’s no one way of doing that.
ELLE: Which details were you most excited to work with?
AA: When we were studying Barbie and how she has evolved, we came across the fact that the first Barbie was launched wearing a black-and-white swimsuit made in jersey. That really fascinated me because we had started with the idea that if it’s Barbie, it’s got to be pink. But then we realised that Barbie didn’t start with pink; she started with graphic black-and-white stripes.
I thought this worked as a perfect balance because Barbie’s wardrobe is otherwise so colourful. We developed the stripes in different parts of India, experimenting with mashru stripes, jersey stripes, hand-knitting, crochet and block printing. It was something that really fascinated me, and it became a very visible part of the collection. You’ll see it on the rack.
ELLE: How does Péro’s Indian craft show up in a collection for a global icon like Barbie?
AA: I think every bit of this collection is rooted in Indian craft because that is the core of Péro. Craft is so central to us that we can’t imagine a single piece of textile that doesn’t come from a different part of India.
There is also a beautiful connection that has come through while working on this collection. We’re launching a new parallel called ‘Found Péro’, which is about things we discover during our travels and find interesting. We want to offer them to a Péro wearer in a very Péro way, adding our own little touch while introducing people to crafts we feel deserve to be seen.
For this season, we’re working with recycled wire koodai baskets from South India. They’re handmade and woven out of plastic, and the connection felt so seamless. We all know the famous Barbie lyric, ‘Life in Plastic. It’s Fantastic’. Here we are, at Péro, a label that doesn’t work with synthetic textiles and can’t even imagine using plastic, creating a mini Koodai bag for Barbie out of recycled plastic wires. It’s an age-old craft from India, traditionally made with grass and straw, before recycled plastic wires became part of the practice. These baskets have become a part of everyday household life, with one basket often staying with a family for a lifetime.
I thought it was the perfect accessory for Barbie: a mini pink Koodai from India. Beyond that, she’s adorned in mashru and wearing checks from West Bengal. You name it, and she has something from India on her.
ELLE: What is the beauty inspiration for the show, from the hair to the makeup?
AA: There are glimpses of Barbie’s varied hairstyles, along with the iconic eyeliner she always wears. You’ll also see red lips, a reference to the first Barbie, which had red lips, red fingernails and red toenails. We’ve also tried to recreate the look of her toy shoes through the footwear we’ve used.
ELLE: You open the week with this show. What do you hope the audience feels, and what should a new generation take away from the show?
AA: I think we always want people to feel transported to a different world, at least for the 15–20 minutes that we’re showcasing the collection. I always say that this is our time to have fun as the Péro team, because we’ve worked really hard for almost two years to bring a collection to life. For us, it’s a celebration of sorts, and we approach it in a very fun way. There are always multiple layers to our shows, from the music to the overall experience. I think people take that happiness away with them every time they come to one of our shows, and we want them to feel the same after this one.
For the newer generation, I think many of us grew up with Barbie. She’s been around since 1959, and I remember wanting my first Barbie when I was in fifth standard. But the current generation might not have witnessed all of that. Perhaps, for them, Barbie is just another toy. Through this show, I think they’ll also get introduced to the iconic figure that Barbie is.
We’ve interpreted her through our clothing as a new-age Barbie, someone who dresses the way Gen Z or Gen Alpha might, mixing things in their own way. I think they’ll relate to that. Of course, there’s also a larger message of self-expression, and the current generation knows very well what they want. I think that’s another connection they’ll make with the showcase.
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