MB: Yes, I feel like, Cynthia, you as a person are very similar to Anne. The three of us had all these ideas of how to take inspiration from the original film, which is from the 1950s, and use it to create characters that are timeless. Then we were waiting to see who was cast. And as soon as it was Chloë we were like, ok wait, this changes everything!
CM: Everything became more edited.
MB: Yes, it’s not just about her character, but about what she would wear on vacation, which is different from what she would wear in her everyday life. Chloë was really tapped into that; she was like, ‘I have one carry-on bag—if you have space for one button-down shirt, what shirt are you going to bring if you have one skirt?’ We thought about how things mix together. Even if they don’t really go together, let’s put them together. Like: this is what you’re bringing on vacation, so you make it work.
CM: We did a lot of little pieces: skirts, a robe you can wear to the beach, little tops and pants, and Miyako mixed and matched things together to really bring out her character. I feel with Lily McInerney’s character Cécile, it was simpler because Miyako had envisioned her as wearing easy pieces like swimsuits and t-shirts most of the time, so there was just one dress for her. It was very straightforward.
MB: Yes, also Cécile’s character doesn’t really care [about clothes], so she can wear the same thing multiple times. This is the first film that I’ve done where I’ve had so many women, and that’s what was so interesting to me. I think for the most part people know me from styling men, so it was really incredible for me to be able to do three completely different women in the summertime.
Yes, I love that Cécile wears the same swimsuit almost the whole movie. Miyako, you’re very good at styling characters that are grounded in reality. But Cécile also has that special moment, when Anne gives her a dress, which is in a way a coming-out dress.
CM: The famous yellow dress! I got a really cute message the other week from someone that wants that dress for their prom. Miyako had very specific ideas on the shade of the dress. There was a scene where she’s supposed to fall on the floor and you’re supposed to see a bit from under the skirt and we liked this idea of a flash of pink that’s a little bit secretive, a little bit seductive, and still quite naive and young and innocent, because that’s who she still is.
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