Emily in Paris Fashion Is Inspired By Pretty Woman, Audrey Hepburn Films & Italian Screen Sirens

In Netflix’s hit series Emily in Paris, costume designer Marylin Fitoussi continues to push the boundaries of vibrant colors, bold patterns, and an overall sense of fashion fantasy — sparking as much discourse and heated debate about the characters' wardrobes as their far-fetched storylines.

The chaotically dramatic show — starring Lily Collins as an American marketing savant Emily Cooper — features an ongoing list of French design houses, including Miu Miu, Jacquemus, Schiaparelli, Coperni, and Isabel Marant, which Emily wears more four seasons after the show’s debut to illustrate her continued immersion into the local fashion scene. But it’s not just about the Paris Fashion Week-approved names: Fitoussi also actively platforms under-the-radar and indie-conscious brands, like sustainable upcycler Germanier, CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist Kate Barton, Seoul-based Pushbutton, and Vietnamese label Sixdo.

“I will continue my path to promote those young designers, and same with secondhand and vintage pieces [promoting re-use],” says Fitoussi, who’s fielded proposals from labels offering off-the-runway samples and custom collaborations. “[Brands] are very interested because everybody knows the effect of the show.”

From Mindy’s (Ashley Park) dress that ends up at the Vestiaire Collective showroom to Emily’s Roman Holiday-inspired vacation wardrobe, below, Fitoussi breaks down the most standout fashion moments from Emily in Paris season four.

After Mindy’s luxury conglomerate nepo baby boyfriend Nicholas (Paul Forman) gifts the audacious dresser a buttoned-up pink skirt suit to appease his father, the singer doesn’t hesitate to pay a visit to the luxury secondhand retailer Vestiaire Collective to sell the conservative piece off.

“Ashley and I call it a ‘wifey dress,’” says Fitoussi. “[Nicholas] wants to erase the outrageous part of her, and make her a normal wifey, a decent wifey, a trophy wifey.” (The show’s longtime supporter Balmain supplied the fictional “couture” look that's referred to as “more Kate Middleton” than Mindy.)

Mindy rightfully rebukes Nicholas’ underhanded motivations and sells the offending set to help fund her band’s Eurovision fees. While doing it, she’s dressed in the most satisfying, fullest version of herself: blue Magda Butrym floral leggings and bustier top, massive Aquazzura platforms, and a flamboyant Anthony Peto feathered cloche hat. “It’s like a manifesto,” says Fitoussi. “The true Mindy wears glittering, outrageous, and extravagant clothes.” 

Fitoussi had been “begging” creator Darren Star and the show’s writers for a masked ball scene since she started working for the show. “It's a French tradition,” says Fitoussi, pointing to the “surrealistic” and opulent bals masqués dating back to the 18th century. So when director Andrew Fleming gave the go-ahead, she already had a black-and-white look for Emily in mind.

“[It’s] a mixture of French and American cultures,” says Fitoussi. As such, she blended layers of inspiration, too. Inspired by Truman Capote’s 1956 Black and White Ball — when socialite Amanda Burden repurposed a Cecil Beaton-designed gown from the Broadway production of My Fair Lady — Fitoussi envisioned a graphic look a là Audrey Hepburn, who starred in the film version of the play and is Emily’s frequent fashion inspiration. When it came to who would design the look, Collins connected Fitoussi with her friend and creative director of French heritage house Nina Ricci, Harris Reed. “The stripes are also Nina Ricci's signature. So everything fit our requirements,” says Fitoussi.

As a result of a canceled flight, Emily takes a last-minute invitation to join her boyfriend Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) for Christmas in Chamonix, France, with his ex Camille (Camille Razat) and her family. A scheming Camille lends a reluctant Emily a ski outfit that, per Star’s request, nodded at a French Alps ski sequence in the Hepburn-starring 1963 mystery-comedy Charade. 

Behind the scenes, Fitoussi and her team custom-made Emily’s mod faux fur cossack hat and a matching mock-neck top with a close-fitting knit hood. While creating the look, they confronted the challenge of making the audience believe that Parisian It Girl — and polar opposite to Emily stylistically — Camille would own a monochrome ‘60s Hepburn-esque ski outfit. So Fitoussi established a subliminal throughline starting with the intimidatingly icy all-white outfit Camille wears to greet Emily in Chamonix: an oversize Frankie Shop wool coat with epaulets, Moncler moon boots and gloves, and a Balmain sweater with a sleek, sinister-looking hood.

Fitoussi enjoyed revealing “the dark side” of Camille, who still hasn’t told Gabriel that she was never actually pregnant. While skiing, Camille wears a black sculptural, cropped Goldbergh puffer coat, a dark hood, and frameless, face-obscuring wraparound goggles. “I wanted her to look like a villain. It was in my head that Camille was like a Bond girl, but the mean one who’s shooting at James Bond while he's skiing,” says Fitoussi. “Then there's the very nice and lovable figure of Audrey/Emily. The good and the bad.”

Back in Paris, Mindy and Emily cheer on Nicholas playing at a polo match, while dressed accordingly for the prestigious event. “You need to be super chic, over-the-top, and maybe too overdressed,” says Fitoussi of the setting.

This time around, Mindy supports her boyfriend in a “wifey” outfit of her choosing: a white caped Ungaro pantsuit, a flowy blouse with delicate black polka dots, and a rosette at the neckline by Italian label True Royal, Malone Souliers heels, and an accordion top-handle bag by Thaden. “I wanted her to wear something very pure, very virginal,” says Fitoussi.

For Emily, Fitoussi referenced another classic film look: the brown polka dot dress Julia Roberts wears to the polo match in Pretty Woman. The only problem? “I couldn't find polka dots,” says Fitoussi. Instead, she opted for the exuberant brown-and-pink checkered trench, halter top, and bucket hat set by London-based brand Lisou.

In the finale of Emily in Paris, Emily conquers another European city with her endearing lack of language skills and unparalleled fashion. When Emily takes a few days off to meet her new Italian love interest Marcello (Eugenio Franceschini) in Rome, she arrives in a look that telegraphs PTO: a blue-and-white polka dot off-the-shoulder blouse by Vivienne Westwood, Christian Louboutin penny loafers, and denim Christopher Cowan short-shorts. 

“She decided to stop working and concentrate on a personal life — on a love life — and not think about the office,” says Fitoussi. “We’ve never seen her so relaxed, with shorts and flat shoes, a simple top, and her hair up. It was a very free, simple casual look.”

In a scene out of Hepburn-starring Roman Holiday, Emily jumps on the back of Marcello’s scooter for a romantic tour of the Italian capital. Her red Peter and James Atelier butterfly backpack makes a symbolic statement behind her. “Remember the expression when you fall in love? ‘I have butterflies in my stomach,’” asks Fitoussi. “Also, love gives you wings. So it was a hidden message. Well, not so hidden.”

Like half the show’s characters, Marcello is conveniently a wealthy scion, of a luxury cashmere empire. Naturally, the perpetually dressed-for-success Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) jets to Rome to crash Emily’s work-free weekend, and land his family business as clients. But after reuniting with an ex-paramour from her carefree art school days, Sylvie realizes that she, too, deserves a personal life. Hence, she dons a breezier look than usual: a languid handkerchief hem halter top and skirt set in earthy tones, by Pucci.

“I needed to show another Sylvie. When she's in Paris, she's in power with a very strong design and thick fabric; stiff, very tailored,” says Fitoussi. “The Pucci look is sensual. The brand is very Italian.”

After her breakup with Nicholas, and his ensuing Eurovision sabotage Mindy distracts herself by also joining Emily in Rome. Emily finds Mindy consoling herself with decadent room service in what looks like a floaty red caftan. During a gelato excursion, Mindy’s loungewear somehow transforms into a spectacular cut-out halter-topped gown, with the long train louchely draped around her arms like a cape.

Fitoussi had the Gaurav Gupta Spring 2024 Couture gown on Mindy’s racks from the start of the season but, at first, couldn’t find the right scene for it. “[The dress] was too much,” says Fitoussi. 

But Park, who “fell in love with the dress,” continued to ask Fitoussi and Star about it down to filming the finale. “[Park] said, ‘I will make it look like a casual dress, and I'm going to play piano in it,’” remembers Fitoussi. While Fitoussi was on board, “Darren was a little bit hard to convince.” But the duo prevailed, and created the most on-brand Mindy moment of the season.

Experiencing a creative epiphany, she persuades a streetside piano to let her perform a new heartfelt ballad. “It’s part of Mindy's character to play a piano in a little street in a one-of-a-kind, couture dress,” says Fitoussi. The video of her couture performance ultimately goes viral and Mindy scores an even more meaningful opportunity than Eurovision.

For the pieces that Emily wears in Rome, Fitoussi celebrated Italian cinematic greats, like neorealism director Luchino Visconti and legendary actresses Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, and Federico Fellini’s 8 ½ star Claudia Cardinale. 

“The vintage Alaïa vintage skirt, with a white blouse, pays homage to [Cardinale’s] black-and-white movies,” says Fitoussi, about the ‘60s-referential midi-skirt and customized Tara Jarmon checkered jacket that Emily wears for a countryside meeting with Marcello’s mother.

Emily closes out the season zooming off on another sweeping scooter ride. She looks like a scene out of a Fellini flick in a Vivienne Westwood black-and-white polka-dotted basque-waist dress, with tulle layers under the full skirting, crystal-embellished Miu Miu flats, and exaggerated cat-eye Valentino sunglasses. 

“It was a tribute to cinema,” says Fitoussi. “Italy and France share good fashion, wine, architecture, and culture.” And now Emily.