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I own the adorable baby tee that Alexa Demi wore in episode two, season two of Euphoria. When designer Vanna Youngstein announced that she would be producing some for purchase after the show aired, I immediately ordered one. The shirt has an attitude that I don’t have, the kind of confidence that I’m not afraid to assume you’re jealous of me and make it known. Everyone who sees me wearing it knows that, and most say, “That’s right, Maddie!” They say. Because before I even open my mouth, they already know where the shirt is from.
In the year Ever since I first watched 2019’s Euphoria, I’ve wanted to dress up as Maddie Perez, the character Demi plays, and I announced this to the show’s costume designer Heidi Bivens last week on Zoom. She laughed and said, “Yes!!!” “My hope and desire is that the show gives anyone, including women in their 40s who want to look Maddy, more confident to experiment with their style,” she said before adding. In the three years since the show aired, Maddie Perez has become more than just a character. She’s an adjective — what people think of when they wear it or scroll through a vintage Blumarine on a reel — and Bivens basically describes it in A24’s new book Euphoria Fashion.
The book is large and purple, with the title embossed on the hardcover in a shiny silvery material reminiscent of the kind you paint your eyes with for hunger. A beauty style that Euphoria makeup artist Donny Davey popularized with Gen Z, unless they cover their eyelids with gems to go to school (maybe later, too, rave). It matches Hunter Shaffer’s wide eyes, which are covered in soft shimmery smoke on her character’s Jules signature runway cover. Inside, the book includes interviews between Bivens and each actor about their looks, original essays from fashion writers on things like camp and normcore slavery, and deep dives into the history of key style elements like Converse sneakers or tennis dresses.
“The original title was actually going to be Euphoria Fashion: The Art of Costume Design,” Bivens told me. “And I asked A24 if I could make Euphoria fashion. Despite the costumes, the show was embraced by both young and old audiences…and it’s all about fashion! I thought ‘art’ was a bit highfalutin.”
When Euphoria first came out, everyone was talking about the look. There was makeup, of course, but an icy blue V-neck Eckhaus Latte shirt, a pink lace Stella McCartney dress, and pieces from the archives in just the first two episodes of the Opening Ceremony fabric. It’s been 12 years since the original Gossip Girl was released, however, until Euphoria came along, there wasn’t a show that received much talk about her outfit. “When I think of what costume designer Eric Daman did for Gossip Girl…. “It’s rare for a show about teenagers to get as much recognition for its creative elements as that show or our show,” Bivens says.
When A24 came to her with the idea to make a book, he felt he had no idea. The manufacturing company created Half Magic with Davey, a line of iridescent glitter gems and a double-chrome highlighter that shines like a disco ball. For Euphoria fashion fans need something, but it was thought that the brand collaboration does not make sense. The show’s fashion appeal isn’t really about the actual items. While I adored Youngstein shirts, my obsession with what Maddie was wearing had nothing to do with creating her exact look and somehow absorbing the ‘don’t-give-it-not-crazy’ commandment by wearing it. And using words instead of material things was the only way to really break that desire to be a man of style.
Designer Jeremy Scott, a close friend of Bivens, who starts Euphoria Fashion, writes in the foreword: “The fact that these characters feel so real to us is not just about the acting (though it’s good). Also, Heidi makes some really interesting choices about how these characters decorate themselves. This is a skill that very few people have.” Bivens’ favorite part of the book was showing off this talent, with captions explaining her thought process that suggest layers of details, accessories, and keys from the past two seasons. “All these writings show my thoughts and the flow of my consciousness, showing what will come together in the form of each of the propositions.”
Bivens in 2011. In an interview with ET Canada in 2022, when she started working on the show, she visited high schools in Los Angeles with hopes, but ended up feeling exhausted and unmotivated. She decided instead to base the characters’ style on people she knew: “Maud Apatow’s character Lexi — her style was inspired by my friend Annabelle Dexter-Jones. Interestingly, part of the frustration surrounding Euphoria’s costumes revolved around how unrealistic some of them felt.
It was a “Dress for Euphoria High” contest where Tik Tok people threw on bags in psychedelic prints, mesh layers, crop tops and seven-inch platform boots. There was an endless stream of memes on Twitter, usually featuring scantily clad runway models with captions like “Maddie Perez is on her way to algebra class.” I even remember the show moving from the audience’s point of view or the reality of one of the characters to an argument with a friend, from being young to an unshakable tenacity and weariness. Your favorite clothes. I thought about my swimsuit memories from high school and always thought they looked completely different and better in my brain than in my photos.
There’s no clear answer, but show creator Sam Levinson tells Bivens he “doesn’t care about reality.” And while trying to be “conscious of not pulling the audience out of the story by using costumes that don’t look like high school students,” she ultimately gives herself “more permission to be more free about me.” Choices and don’t be so analytical.
Eventually, as the show goes on and the audience gets to know the characters, that discussion of reality fades away. Euphoria became a universe that people wanted to be a part of, whether it was real or not – just like Gossip Girl or Sex and the City. And while Euphoria has the darkest of the two, with depictions of addiction and abuse, all of the characters still have this charming individuality defined by careful consideration of their appearance in a way that makes them touch Blair Waldorf or Carrie Bradshaw. .
“I really enjoyed the costumes in CT,” Bivens says. “Carrie’s outfits were amazing… but these were not my girls! I was not one of those women. Euphoria is actually closer than the world I live in. She was a skateboarder who grew up going to raves and Riot Girl shows with graffiti writers. The concept of style tribes and youth movements immortalized in certain uniforms greatly inspired her process.
It would be an understatement to point out that Bivens’ work on Euphoria played a major role in Gen Z’s contemporary concept of flashy personal style. It’s what Bivens always hoped for. “I wanted them to lean into their own individuality, not a distorted version of what they might see on social media,” she explains. “This is encouraging to me.” And now they have Euphoria Fashion, a book that’s a cross between a style bible and a dress code to help Ru and Jules and Maddie study the look. Not necessarily in an effort to be them, but an undeniable euphoria to instill a unique style within themselves.
Euphoria Fashion by Heidi Bivens is available now at shop.a24films.com and retails for $60
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