The ‘Revenge Season.’ That’s what Emily In Paris’ costume designer Marylin Fitoussi calls the fourth instalment of probably the most hate-watched show (if I may be bold enough, to say so) on Netflix. Indicating a slight departure from the overtly saturated shade card of the previous seasons, this time Fitoussi dabbles in relatively darker and more intense style schemings, with a maximalist genome at heart, undoubtedly. Hoping the audience takes a liking to it, she comments, “I think people will be surprised in this new vision of French fashion exhibited by Emily Cooper. It’s sexy, it’s malicious.”
With personalities that clash like opposite shades on a colour wheel, the process sure entails plenty of research and psychological analysis. “I have fun with everybody. It’s both easy and difficult in a way, take Mindy for example. You can put big earrings, glitter. It’s glamorous, all of it. But then doing Camille’s wardrobe, that heavily borrows from minimalist codes whereas others gravitate towards more avant-garde styles, is where you need to expand your search for designers. I can’t use the same designer again and again. The challenge is also to find a young, new designer for every season of Emily In Paris. And this season, I fell in love with a Vietnamese designer.”
This is where she gushes about Do Manh Cuong, who is a graduate from the Chambre Syndicale De La Couture Parisienne and has designed several pieces for Emily in the show. “I found him randomly in Instagram, and got in touch with him. It all transpired virtually, we collaborated on a few looks and was it felt really nice to give a little brand that spotlight.”
As a minimalist, whose wardrobe boasts of say, three colours at the most, analysing maximalists is a bit of a past-time for me. A foreign species I admiringly look up to, courtesy their guts, and well, their guts. Naturally I was curious about her relationship with colours and patterns and upon being asked about same, she quipped, “I’m born this way. I have loved colour since I was a kid. When I was living in Paris, they called me the parrot, the clown. And when I spent 13 years in Mexico, I realised that Mexico was MY land, because everybody was dressed in colour and nobody bat an eyelid.”
“So when we started to do season one of Emily In Paris, I didn’t try to make a personal style from scratch for Emily. I just dressed her as I was dressed. It was a bit of a continuation of me, one could say. And, of course, because it was so different from the French style, it was a huge cultural shock.” Safe to say, this culture shock and impeccably done styling has translated revenue-wise to promise additional seasons of Emily In Paris laced with more fashion and drama. And polarising opinions, which in 2024 is the epitome of clout currency. Who’s complaining?
For the Emily In Paris hottie Gabriel (hello fatherhood), she faced a bit of a tussle to find the perfect pieces, because with everything that man donned, he ended up looking like a model. The type of problems we all wish to have, don’t we? “He’s a beautiful guy. I don’t know if you’re team Alfie or team Gabriel. But everything you put on him, he just looks like a model. So you need to find the right thing to make him look like the guy next door.” I might’ve laughed a little too hard here, to be honest.
Addressing the elephant in the room, I subtly (or so I’d like to think) pivoted the conversation to Indian designers and the prospect of seeing some homegrown fashion on the show. Marylin raved about Manish Arora’s colour-laden sensibilities. “He has a beautiful house, a very colourful one in Paris, and he has a very good restaurant too. It’s just that I need to have the perfect moment in the story where I can mix and match. Maybe next season.”
Gaurav Gupta was name-dropped as a potential match too, or maybe something’s already in the works? Time will tell. Till then, we’ll be waiting for season four of Emily In Paris, and I’ll try to pick a red or a pink dress in support. Maybe prints, if I’m feeling bold.
Watch the trailer of Emily In Paris season 4 here:
Images courtesy: Netflix
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