How to Dress Like Bradley and Stella From ‘The Morning Show’
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Is your workplace style a Bradley, a Stella, an Alex or a Mia? That’s what women may be asking themselves while watching the hit Apple TV series “The Morning Show,” where costume designer Sophie de Rakoff has amped up the costumes to match the drama on the third season, airing now, and starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Greta Lee and Karen Pittman, among others.
De Rakoff worked with New York-based luxury brand Lafayette 148 on three suits worn in episodes seven, eight and nine of the show, and available to order now in boutiques, where they are being displayed for the next two weeks in “Morning Show” themed windows in Beverly Hills, Chicago, on New York’s Madison Avenue, in SoHo, Manhasset, and Virginia’s Tyson’s Corner.
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On Tuesday at the new Lafayette 148 Beverly Hills boutique, the brand gave a rare party for de Rakoff and her costume designer colleagues that had Ellen Mironjik (“Oppenheimer”), Sal Perez (“The Mindy Project”), Julie Weiss (“Frida”), Christopher Lawrence (“Ray Donovan”) and many more stopping by for Champagne and a spin through the racks of clothing available to pull for productions (once the SAG-AFTRA strike is over) as part of the brand’s new Studio Services program.
“We deserve it,” said costume designer Allyson Fanger, who worked on the Apple TV series “Shrinking” with Justin Segal, whose textured Buck Mason-heavy wardrobe has been getting viewers’ attention.
Costume designers haven’t traditionally gotten respect — or pay — commensurate to their influence in creating excitement around characters and shows through wardrobe. But that is starting to change in the wake of hits such as “Stranger Things,” “Euphoria,” “Bridgerton,” “Wednesday” and “Succession,” which have set major fashion trends (Regencycore, quiet luxury) and generated interest among viewers and brands alike wanting to be involved.
For “The Morning Show,” de Rakoff was introduced to Lafayette 148 through Witherspoon’s personal stylist, Petra Flannery, and the idea to create custom suiting came from there.
Because Lafayette’s ateliers are based in New York, the brand was able to turn around the suits in Witherspoon’s petite measurements in a matter of weeks.
“Bradley stepped into this new position as the evening news anchor, so we went into the season with the intent of leaving behind the sheath dresses and taking her back into suiting for the gravitas of the evening news,” de Rakoff said.
Working with Lafayette was not a product placement deal, but an opportunity to collaborate and custom build two suits, one in navy and one in maroon, in exactly the silhouette de Rakoff wanted, with a fitted, notch lapel jacket and flared pants. “I think because they’re female run and they’re small, it’s a hands-on business. They were really helpful and super supportive and the quality is great,” she said.
The costume designer also adapted a boxy, longline lavender Lafayette suit for Stella, played by Greta Lee, whose wardrobe also includes Sacai jackets, Loewe hoodies and sneakers.
“She’s an interesting character, she came from tech, she’s left of center, and it gave us room to explore visually someone who has a different confidence. And she comes from a slightly different generation, and is obviously very influenced by streetwear….In the end, with her, we think of suiting almost like a sports uniform.”
“The Morning Show” is contributing to the conversation about what post-pandemic workwear looks like, de Rakoff said. “The challenge has always been to delineate and differentiate all the characters who are in similar socioeconomic places, but very, very distinct people.”
For Lafayette 148, the collaboration marks its first foray into made-to-order, with all styles available in multiple colors and fabrications, from approximately $898 for flared pants to $1,798 for a peak lapel blazer. It also marks another step in its courtship of Hollywood, following the brand’s first celebrity ad campaign, for fall, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal. That campaign has been so successful that apparently women have come into stores looking for the same tweed jacket and varsity stripe V-neck cashmere sweater the actor-director-writer is wearing in it.
Creative director Emily Smith hopes “The Morning Show” suits will resonate similarly.
“It was a good match with Lafayette because tailoring is what we started with back in 1996. Of course, it’s evolved how women wear suits today and I love how Sophie has been able to build characters that are very different through tailoring,” Smith said.
The third season of “The Morning Show” also features a cameo by Valentino designer Pierpaolo Piccioli, with Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) and Christina Hunter (Nicole Beharie) wearing Valentino looks. Aniston’s look is a recreation of her black Valentino gown from the 2010 Golden Globes, while Beharie wears a pink look from the fall 2022-23 collection.
The storyline for episode seven centers around a Valentino gala to honor emerging fashion talent that takes place on the same night that Roe v. Wade is overturned.
The fashion connection came from Aniston’s team, de Rakoff said. “It was incredibly organic and a really good match for everybody aesthetically and logistically,” she said, adding that it was also not a product placement deal.
The show is resonating because “women are never represented in this way,” she said. “What I am seeing is that people are really starting to look into how the characters dress and then seeing themselves in those characters, which was always our intention.”
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