Courtesy of HBO GO
Carrie Bradshaw, Samantha Jones, Charlotte York and Miranda Hobbes – these four names of Sex and the City defined female empowerment in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s and have become icons of pop culture, influencing the way women view and celebrate friendships, careers, love, sexual liberation and most of all, fashion.
Now the series returns, after almost two decades, with a highly-anticipated reboot called And Just Like That..., which sees the women (sans Samantha) navigating the complicated reality of life in their 50’s. As hardcore fans of the original series, we can hardly wait to see how things pick up where they left off following the second Sex and the City feature film in 2010, including the evolution of their wardrobe. Taking over from the prolific Patricia Fields, the lead costume designer of the original series who revolutionised TV dressing, are co-costume designers Molly Rogers and Danny Santiago. We talk to them about what to expect in this new series.
Stream or download And Just Like That…, from December 9 or catch up on all six seasons of Sex And The City as well as the two Sex And The City movies now available on HBO GO.
Courtesty of HBO GO
The fashion on this show is certainly on a par with the leading ladies. How does that factor change the experience of working on a show as a costume designer?
Danny: “Again, going back to the brand, fashion was so important for these girls and for the viewers to see it. It is another character to the show, really. People are always so curious to see what’s the new shoe? What’s the new silhouette? What is Carrie going to come out the door wearing, because there’s always a surprise? As I said, she dresses for herself. She dresses to her mood and what she feels like for the day. We’ve always had so much fun creating those pieces and coming up with ideas that I think a lot of other actors might not wear, but she’s so open to things and she’s so wanting to create and be creative.”
Molly: “The legacy of the show has such a reputation for its fashion and I think that if we had felt that pressure in any way, it might have limited us in the fitting room and we might have been judgmental or maybe timid to develop some of our ideas. But we really kept ourselves contained and it just let us be free to do what we liked and what the girls liked. I think that was really helpful.”
Danny: “When we bring things into the room, we don’t just bring all from one collection or one designer, we bring everything and make a huge presentation with it. So there’s everything on the rack from high, low, vintage, designer, and we just group it as tops, jackets, and all the pieces. So, when we’re editing and putting things together, how it comes together is very organic. We’re not purposely saying that we have to use this particular brand, or we have to use that, or we’ve got to pair it with the same brand. We have so many things to choose from and mixing it all together is really where the fun and the creativity comes from.”
