If you are preparing to binge-watch the first part of season four of Emily In Paris this evening, then get ready for a more mature and Parisian-inspired wardrobe for the main character. This season, Emily Cooper grows up – and her wardrobe reflects her newfound maturity and confidence, which costume designer Marylin Fitoussi brought through with three-piece suits, flat shoes and ‘blossoming’ floral motifs.
“Emily is feeling a bit more confident and she’s literally wearing the pants now,” lead actress Lily Collins explained of her character’s journey. “She’s wearing loafers, matching sets, more suits.”
“She’s coming into her power more, in terms of work and her personal life,” adds show creator Darren Star. “The wardrobe reflects that, to a degree. Emily is growing up and she’s really finding her footing this season.”
Fitoussi put Emily in three-piece suits that were inspired by Twiggy, worn with flat shoes and fine jewellery, while there was also a floral theme throughout her wardrobe, which aimed to represent Emily’s transition from a little bud to a blossoming flower. This is supposed to be a woman coming into her own, but she is also being influenced by her surroundings, and finally reinterpreting those Parisian fashion codes for herself.
“Emily’s style evolution this year represents more of a calmness and centredness within herself, in her job but also in the city,” Collins said. “Every year that becomes more and more apparent, but she’s being inspired by her surroundings and by her co-workers and her friends. She’s understanding how to put outfits together in a way with a more European mentality. She never shies away from colour, because it’s Emily, but she’s learned to pare it down a little bit in a way that comes across as more grounded and chic, and not being loud for loud’s sake, allowing herself to feel more comfortable in the outfits and being bold in a new way.”
Collins added that this season’s outfits felt more like her own style than ever before, and this was no mistake – Fitoussi counts the actress as her muse for the season. “Lily has actually been an inspiration to me – she has evolved, matured. I think she is blossoming more and more in her role as a woman and a producer, and so I wanted to make [the character] blossom.”
Other muses for the season include Audrey Hepburn (specifically her skiing look, for which the team recreated the exact Pierre Marly sunglasses that she wore in Charade), Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball, François Hardy, an American Psycho-inspired suit and, of course, Twiggy.
All in all, the fashion in season four is moving Emily forward, but it’s also on a grander scale than ever before. According to Netflix, there were 2,500 pairs of shoes featured (including 150 pairs of Louboutins), 350 designer handbags and about 3,000 pieces of jewellery.
“It’s always a challenge from one season to the next, and you have to renew yourself,” says Fitoussi on the transition. “I’m my first and only spectator, I don’t want to be bored – I want to see clothing and accessories that make me dream, that are unaffordable, inaccessible. Yes, it’s true that Emily can’t afford all the clothes on offer in the show, of course. No, her apartment can’t hold all the clothes. And that’s entertainment, baby!”