Editor’s Note: Featuring the good, the bad and the ugly, ‘Look of the Week’ is a regular series dedicated to unpacking the most talked about outfit of the last seven days.
Pamela Anderson made her name in red. In fact, the swimwear she and her “Baywatch” co-stars wore in the 1990s is so iconic that Pantone has since officially named the tone “Baywatch Red.”
So there was, perhaps, no better color the 55-year-old star could have worn to the premiere of Netflix’s new documentary about her life, “Pamela, a Love Story.”
Channeling her breakout character C.J. Parker, Anderson arrived at the streaming giant’s Tudum Theater in Los Angeles wearing a scoop neck dress by Indian American designer Naeem Khan. The figure-hugging gown may not have been the precise shade that Pantone immortalized to mark the series’ 30th anniversary in 2019, but it nonetheless evoked images of Parker patrolling LA’s sunny beaches — often in slow motion — in a one-piece swimsuit during her five seasons on the show.
Social media users appeared to appreciate the throwback. Responding to Khan’s eponymous label’s Instagram post, Victoria’s Secret model Tika Camaj described Anderson’s premiere appearance as an “iconic moment.”
Anderson’s stylist, Rebecca Ramsey, meanwhile wrote on Instagram after the premiere: “She invented red.”
Part of Khan’s Resort 2023 collection, the beaded gown retails for just under $6,000 — making it more expensive than the original show-worn “Baywatch” swimsuit that sold (alongside a buoy and a signed photo) for $4,920 at a California auction in 2014.
Anderson completed the look with drop earrings and a pair of red satin sandals designed by someone with a similarly strong claim to the color red: Christian Louboutin.
The actor was joined at the Monday event by her sons Dylan and Brandon Lee, the latter having co-produced the Netflix documentary. Speaking to Access Hollywood on the pink carpet, Anderson said her children had kept her informed of her ongoing status as a style icon, decades after she emerged as the archetypical blonde bombshell.
“(My sons) would say, ‘People love the whole ’90s look, and people (wear red swimsuits as) Halloween costumes,’” Anderson said. “And I’d be like ‘No, this is crazy! It’s fun, it’s really nice, it’s flattering. It feels full circle. We were just having a good time back then. It was never a curated experience.”
Now streaming on Netflix, “Pamela, a Love Story” charts Anderson’s struggles with her pervasive sex symbol status, as well as her tumultuous relationship with Tommy Lee and their infamous stolen sex tape. Released alongside a new memoir, the documentary sees Anderson attempt, as she puts it, to “take control of the narrative for the first time.”