If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.
Costume designer Jacqueline Demeterio didn’t have to look much further than her own Silver Lake-residing friends when pulling inspiration for Anne Hathaway‘s Sólene in “The Idea of You.”
In the buzzy new rom-com, Hathaway stars as a 40 year-old art gallery owner and divorcee who falls in love with the 24 year-old heartthrob singer of the boy band August Moon, played by Nicholas Galitzine. Aside from the whirlwind age-gap romance, first depicted in Robinne Lee’s 2017 novel of the same name, the film’s most compelling aspects are the high-fashion ensembles worn by both Sólene and Galitizine’s Hayes. And as the pair jets from Coachella to New York to Paris, the clothes also ground their fantastical affair in reality.
“I know people that live in Silver Lake and I know some friends of mine that are mothers that live in Silver Lake so I was very familiar with that sensibility and their style,” Demeterio told Variety ahead of the film’s arrival on Prime Video last week.
She describes Sólene’s fashion as a mix between bohemian and “classic French girl style,” citing Jane Birkin as one of the her main inspirations for Hathaway throughout the film. “That was one of the images on my inspiration board that kind of spoke to me,” she says.
Demeterio pulled from designer racks in both New York and Los Angeles to turn these visions into reality, gravitating towards long, flowing skirts, suede boots and deep purple and blue fabrics. Some of Sólene’s most memorable ensembles include this stunning Dior trench, which she dons when visiting Hayes in New York for the first time, and this satin dress from Acne that she wears while ducking paparazzi at the peak of her and Hayes’ romance. “Anne was immediately drawn to the color,” Demeterio says.
For Hayes, whose character in the book has been rumored to be at least loosely based on Harry Styles (and August Moon on One Direction), there was no shortage of Coachella footage and paparazzi photos from which Demeterio could pull inspiration.
“I mean, I’m not going to lie: of course, I looked at Harry,” she says. “I did because I do like a lot of Harry’s street style looks.”
But she insists she pulled images from a wide array of pop and rock stars to achieve Hayes’ look, even citing The 1975’s Matt Healy as a main person on her vision board. “I did look at One Direction but it’s dated now so all their silhouettes were out of date and different. I just wanted it to be a modern twist on everything.”
In fact, one of Hayes’ outfits — made up of Loewe trousers, an Isabel Marant sweater and a Bodega tank — was so good that Galitizine bought the entire head-to-toe outfit after the fitting. “After we tried it on, he texted me and he’s like, ‘Can you give the details?’ And he purchased it right after because he loved it,” Demeterio says.
Below, check out how Demeterio created some of the best fashion moments in “The Idea of You”:
“This is actually a Chanel vintage dress that I found down in Atlanta when we were filming. I was in The RealReal and what caught my eye about this dress was the fabric, the chenille. It’s chenille on top and then it’s this beautiful silk pattern skirt on the bottom. And the color was so vibrant to me, that purple that her and I had been discussing with our palette. I saw it from across the store and I just knew this was going to be one of the dresses that we were going to see a lot.
And then I found this ETRO velvet navy blazer to complement it.”
Etro Velvet Single-Breasted Blazer
“When Hayes first comes into the gallery to buy every piece of art from her, I wanted his street style to be cool. He’s wearing a Loewe trouser, an Isabel Marant sweater and a Bodega tank. I liked the texture of the sweater. Besides looking cool and great, it looked warm and inviting but also still looked like his pop star self. The colors and the gradation was really beautiful.
Isabel Marant Danah Cardigan
Bottega Veneta Cotton Tank Top
Loewe Trousers
“Hayes’ first Coachella outfit is very simple. With his stage looks, we landed on just keeping him classic and simple. However, his T-shirts, we tailored them to the perfect length. That’s a Jungmaven T-shirt and and he’s wearing Margiela trousers. So the cut of his pants were always wider leg — a little slouchy, a little drop waist, a drop crotch — which was intentional to give him that sort of cool factor.
I used a lot of Loewe, Margiela, Saint Laurent. They were all designers because that’s what he would be wearing even though it’s just a classic tee and trouser.”
Jungmaven Basic Tee
Maison Margiela Oversized Pinstripe Trousers
“I love layering and I love outerwear pieces, and that Dior trench is so chic. She put it on and the movement of it too, when they do the shot behind of them walking in the hangar to the plane, I just knew the movement was going to be so beautiful.
I had a range of coats and trench coats in her fitting but honestly, the cut on that Dior was unlike any other, and I thought, ‘Well, this is why this is Dior and this costs the price that it costs because, especially raincoats on TV or film, they can be bulky, they can be problematic, they can look messy. This did not do any of that, so it was well worth the price.”
Dior Trench Coat
“When Solene is traveling to New York to visit Hayes in the hotel, she knows what she’s going to do, she knows why she’s going and she’s excited. She puts on this very sexy two-piece Fendi ensemble. I love that it was sheer but it wasn’t too sheer, and then we put the right undergarments under it too, so it wasn’t so revealing. I also love the movement of the trench coat, that was a reveal when she got into the room.
“I found this set in New York, actually. That was something early on that I had found, and it was one of those pieces that I saw and said ‘I have to see this on.” And then when I brought it into the fitting, Anne was like, “What is this?” And then she put it on and we were like, ‘Oh my God, it’s like drop dead gorgeous on her.'”
Fendi Silk Ruffle Pullover & Skirt Set
“This purple dress is by Acne. It was a lot about the color when I first saw that dress and when it came in, Anne was immediately drawn to the color, too. When she goes to the gallery at the end of the film, I didn’t realize that there was going to be purple artwork so when we went to go film, I was like, ‘Oh my God, her dress matches the artwork exacty.’
Her suede boots are Isabel Marant. They have this sort of slouchy, Bohemian, very cool, effortless feel. She wears the same pair, but in tan suede, at the beginning of the film and then I had them in black here.”
Acne Studios Dayla Side-Slit Midi Dress