Written by Oscar Holland, CNN
With 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 ’90s is so iconic that Pantone has since officially named the shade “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 CJ Parker, Anderson arrived at the streaming giant’s Tudum Theater in Los Angeles wearing a scoop-neck gown by Indian American designer Naeem Khan. The figure-hugging gown may not have been the precisely shade that Pantone immortalized to mark the series’ 30th anniversary in 2019, but it still conjured up images of Parker patrolling LA’s sunny beaches — often in slow motion — in a one-piece swimsuit piece during her five seasons on the show.
Pamela Anderson wore her signature color at the premiere of Netflix’s “Pamela, a Love Story.” credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images
Social media users appeared to appreciate the return. Responding to Khan’s eponymous label’s Instagram post, Victoria’s Secret model Tika Camaj described Anderson’s premiere look 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 dress retails for just under $6,000 — making it more expensive than the original show-worn “Baywatch” swimsuit that sold (along with 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 an equally strong claim to the color red: Christian Louboutin.
Anderson made her name as the lifeguard and volleyball coach, CJ Parker, on the 1990s hit show “Baywatch.” credit: IMDB
The actor was joined at Monday’s event by her sons Dylan and Brandon Lee, the latter of whom co-produced the Netflix documentary. Speaking to Access Hollywood on the pink carpet, Anderson said her children had kept her abreast of her continued status as a style icon, decades after she emerged as the archetypal 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 cute, it’s really pretty, it’s flattering. It feels full circle. We just had a good time 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 her infamous stolen sex tape. Released alongside a new memoir, the documentary sees Anderson attempt, as she puts it, “for the first time to take control of the story.”
