The ‘euphoria’ effect is turning costume designers into the next influencers – WWD

Give your Hollywood stylist some leeway. The costume designer is ready to become the next influencer.

Mesh tops, strappy dresses and lace-up leg sandals are just a few of the fashion trends spawned by HBO’s hit series Euphoria.

Costume designer Heidi Bivens’ looks have also made waves on the runway, and Paris-based brand Coperni took direct inspiration from the show, starting with its high school-themed Fall 2022 collection, featuring students as part of its production. All the way up to the locker for you.

“They represent the new Guardians, and it’s exciting to think that an American show can have such great global impact. The language of fashion can travel,” said WWD. Bivens, a former staffer of Coperni, has published a book about the “Euphoria” costumes in A24 later this year, which also includes interviews with Coperni designers Sebastian Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant.

“Euphoria” changed the Hollywood and fashion game. The social media-savvy and diverse Gen Z star has struck lavish partnerships with Coach, Valentino, Tom His Braun, and more, alongside brands that provide the clothes his characters wear on screen. , and collaborate on show-inspired merchandise.

According to Launchmetrics CEO Michael Jais, Hunter Schafer’s Spring 2022 Prada campaign generated $3.4 million in media impact value, comparable to a Fashion Week runway show. Angus Cloud was also the top social media post at New York Fashion Week, where he earned $914,000 on Coach.

Part of her real-world fashion success is Bivens character building using her own designs, vintage and modern pieces from brands such as House of CB, Akna, Prada, and Coperni.

“People send me street style pics or… they see scantily clad teens and they say it’s my fault,” she laughs. “But honestly, that sort of thing was already happening. I just tapped into it. And then I got a platform to put it on TV, but a lot of the time, It had a more commercial look, especially on the network.”

The success of the show’s costumes “has a lot to do with the timing, the launch of social media, and what I can refer to as a resource for inspiration. If anything, the show gives people more chances with their style. I want to believe it prompted me to grab it,” she said.

Bivens now has her brand of choice, but that wasn’t the case before the show opened. It was,” she said, explaining that multiple brand reps “found her email in spam” after the series ended overnight.

“But coming from an editorial background, that was how I approached modern wardrobe. Even before I started buying , I was like, ‘What’s going on in fashion and what brands will these characters gravitate toward?

Next, Bivens designs a collection of avatar clothing for Genies Studio and directs the first four episodes of the Gossamer animated fairy series based on the novel of the same name by Lois Lowry.

“When I worked on the film many years ago, I brokered a deal with a clothing brand and never saw a single cent. …But times are changing and studios and producers Costume designers aren’t just about dressing people in cool clothes, they’re bigger creative partners,” said Bivens, pointing to the new paradigm that costume designer Lou Eyrich has been elevated to producer on a Ryan Murphy project. .

Of course, “Euphoria” isn’t the only thing that has recently made waves in the fashion world. “Gossip Girl,” “Emily in Paris,” “Stranger Things,” and “Bridgerton” have also seen a surge in online searches for berets, rompers, 80s fashion and corsets. , hair bows and long gloves.

“We were able to create the Regency era in a way that would appeal to a modern audience. They hadn’t seen it and wanted to try it. Projects I’ve been working on and they wanted it all, and it hasn’t changed since the day it aired, and I’m still taking notes,” costume designer Ellen Mirojinik said of the pandemic in late 2020. created a romantic and surreal look for “Bridgerton” that swept viewers on the darkest day of .

Costume and Fashion’s Mirojinik said, “The categories are consolidated now.”

She understands the intimacy of the big and small screens that affect audience response. She said, “Costumes are more prominent now, just because of the amount of content we have, one and two things to do.”

Seeing what’s popular on TV and filtered on social media is a good way to read trends, especially among Gen Z.

“There are two fashion directions ‘Emily in Paris’ that focus on designer names and exclusivity, followed by DIY ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Euphoria’. [do-it-yourself] And nostalgia base. It speaks well to how people want to dress post-pandemic, the ultra-exaggerated oversized skater his look, his penchant for the 80s and his DIY paired with ultra-high-end accessories. .

“It feels like the audience is headed there because the network isn’t that exciting and they want to go streaming and it goes viral and people are talking about it and making TikToks and memes. “Nicolas Ghesquière is a big fan and made a Stranger Things t-shirt for Louis Vuitton’s spring 2018 show,” said Stranger Things costume designer Amy Paris. rice field.)

Several fashion brands, including Levi’s, copied the pair of double-button waistbands, channel-stitched balloon pants that Paris painstakingly crafted for the show using a 19-piece pattern for Stranger Things. collaborated for the fourth season of

Paris was uncredited when the licensed Levi’s x Stranger Things collection was unveiled. This has been a longstanding problem for the costume designer, who makes him one of the lowest paid workers in the entertainment industry.

“[Brands] Treat them like influencers. What they don’t understand is that they don’t necessarily build everything from scratch, but curate and bring to the big and small screen the designs that make stylists extraordinary.

Jones himself was recently inspired by the costumes of Carston Mann, played by Maya Rudolph as a millionaire’s ex-wife. .”

Launchmetrics’ Jais goes one step further. “The future is for brands to create their own TV shows,” he said, referring to Tommy Hilfiger and he Ralph Lauren as potential producers.

Storytelling is key to being more than just a marketing effort, he said, citing Calvin Klein producing a video and song for the band XX in 2017 as a good example. “They never mentioned Calvin Klein as a brand, but the characters all wore Calvin Klein. If they were the producers of the songs, why shouldn’t Brando be the producers of the TV show?”

“What I see are brands leveraging other people’s content in smarter ways. We used the capsule collection to recognize the importance of the costume designer art form and the Costume Designers Guild of America. We are doing it,” Jones said. “There is an opportunity for brands to become part of the scene and create exclusive merchandise around the show through licensing agreements. There should be a distributor. There are many sides to who should be involved in this.”

Amazon is perfectly positioned. “They are doing e-commerce, building fashion departments, trying to have brands as part of their content. We’re following you in and giving you the look of the show,” said Jones. “My sense is that Netflix will get there too. But Amazon is there now.”

Indeed, Netflix’s animated series Enter Galactic, which premieres September 30, stars Kid Cudi as an up-and-coming artist in New York wearing designs from the late Virgil Abloh and others, and is the latest in fashion for the fall season. could be one of the shows that influences A new adaptation of “Interview with the Vampire” debuted on his AMC on October 2nd. Jacob Anderson is rich in early 20th century New Orleans black, gay, rich vampire and Gothic menswear.

But when Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: Ring of Power opens Friday, will it really set a fashion trend?

perhaps.

“Game of Thrones” costume designer Michele Clapton caused a sensation when she revealed that the show’s cape was made from a $79 IKEA Skold rug.

“Is there anything the designer has taken from real life that has become known or remade as something you can buy?” Told. “We might see an elf dress that becomes something. Fashion is always changing.”