Euphoria’s costume designer shares the celeb inspo behind Maddy’s iconic style
If you’re anything like us (and the rest of the internet), you’ve either become Euphoria-obsessed all over again, or finally decided to see what all the hype’s about, thanks to season 2’s recent release. It’s not just the gritty, high-stakes teen drama that has people hooked. The show’s fantastical clothes, hair, and makeup spawned endless “Euphoria High” memes on TikTok. Episode views impressively doubled this season, and it became the most tweeted-about show this decade in America. Gulp.
Part of the intrigue is that it’s not a predictably glossy American high school sitcom, where everyone’s clad in safe jeans, messenger bags, and beach waves. This series features suburban teenagers wearing Miu Miu and neon eye makeup to class, while they navigate addiction, abuse, and grief. Euphoria’s fashion, which is the creative genius of costume designer Heidi Bivens, hovers somewhere between fantasy and reality. Bivens spoke to Cosmopolitan UK about her vision for the show's Emmy-nominated, zeitgeist-y style.
Bivens and a team of shoppers pulled a warehouse full of looks from LA vintage shops, designer showrooms, and indie brands on Instagram. She created “character closets” for each of the leading roles; gradually building out racks of hero pieces and basics that she envisioned them in. For fittings, she led with proposed looks for key scenes, and then mixed and matched outfits with input from each actor. (Jacob Elordi, who plays Nate Jacobs, famously requested that his character not wear skinny jeans on the show.)
Maddy Perez, played by Alexa Demie, is a fan favourite for her unapologetically sexy style. Think lots of body-con, cutout dresses, ultra-long nails, and rhinestone eye makeup. Said Bivens, “Maddy’s New Year’s Eve look is one that stands out to me. [It] was inspired by vampy, diva looks of the 90’s from icons like Madonna, Naomi Campbell and runway looks from Mugler and Versace.” BRB, adding that mood board to our Pinterest…
Another aspect of the show that got viewers talking was the fashion trajectory of Kat Hernandez, played by Barbie Ferreira. In early episodes, we see a younger Kat feeling self-conscious after gaining weight, trying to blend in with plain clothes and no makeup. Kat later undergoes a radical style transformation after becoming a webcam performer, wearing vinyl miniskirts, body harnesses, purple lipstick, and graphic eyeliner. Fans praised the show for featuring exciting, interesting plus size fashion - not just the same floaty kaftans and maxi dresses that many TV shows seem to turn to.
While Bivens enjoyed working with John Paul Gaultier, Good American, Kim Shui, and vintage sellers to create Kat’s unique style, she thinks that some other fashion retailers still have a long way to go in terms of plus size clothing. “I'm not yet impressed by the options for non-sample-size people. I still am really looking for the same kinds of options and design that exists for, you know, [US] sizes two through twelve. When I'm shopping for a talent who is a size beyond that, it's so limiting to the point where it's frustrating, and I really want to inspire brands to do something about it. I think that things are moving in a good direction. It's just not fast enough, in my opinion." Said Bivens, “It's way beyond time to embrace a huge market of people who are excited about fashion and want to buy clothes that fit them.”
She continued, “There are places to go online to find what I need, but in terms of going to a local mall to shop...there's probably like two stores in a mall of 100 stores. It's just it's not enough.” Off the back of fans falling in love with Kat’s style, Bivens thinks Ferreira should branch out into fashion. “I've encouraged Barbie Ferreira in the past to start her own line. Barbie, if you're listening - the fans want it.” (Umm, yes please, where do we sign up for early access to shop?)
After each episode, fans swarmed social media looking for Easter eggs and hidden messages behind the looks. But Bivens shared one we didn’t quite catch the first time around. “Rue wears a Malcolm X t-shirt in S2 Ep. 6 that is a nod to the first of two special episodes, which aired in December 2020.” In that episode, Rue visits her recovery sponsor Ali on Christmas Eve while she’s high. Ali can see that Rue is lying about being clean, and he’s pleading with her to get back into recovery.
Rue says, “Maybe I’ll…start a revolution like Malcolm X or something.” Ali replies, “Your only hope is a revolution, but a real f*cking revolution, inside and out. But you gotta see it through. You can't half-ass this sh*t. You just have to commit to it, every single day, and know that you can always do it better and be better."
Later, in season two, when Rue is sick with gruelling opiate withdrawals, she phones Ali to apologise - while wearing a Malcolm X graphic t-shirt. Bivens’ use of symbolism via the t-shirt lets viewers know that Rue is sincerely trying to “commit to" her efforts to stay clean, like Ali hoped she would.
In the meantime, fans are staying busy speculating about what Season 3 might bring, which is slated for 2023. Until then, at least we've got the re-runs to keep us company. See you on Euphoria TikTok...
All eight episodes of EUPHORIA Season 2 are available to buy across all major digital platforms.
Follow Maddy on Instagram.
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