In the fast-paced film Anora, a working-class stripper and sex worker, Ani (Mikey Madison), impulsively marries Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a Russian oligarch with unlimited access to his family’s exorbitant wealth in the United States. The story is the latest in The Florida Project and Red Rocket director Sean Baker’s oeuvre, much of which is marked by his portrayal of sex workers in America.
Jocelyn Pierce, the film’s costume designer, sees Longing as a story of the American dream. Ani and Ivan each seek the kind of salvation that the myth of America promises. Ani tries to escape the working class, while Ivan sees the United States as a hedonistic paradise, an escape from the responsibilities and expectations of life in Russia.
Pierce uses clothing to convey some of those ideas of hope, possibility, and ambition. “There are actually very few saturated colors in the suits,” he says. “There are a lot of blacks, neutrals and metallics, but the colors we chose to highlight are red and blue.” Pierce points out Ani’s vibrant blue Hervé Léger dress (her personal favorite), which the character wears on her first trip to Ivan’s compound. “The color stands out beautifully in the New York winter, in the cold neutrals of the mansion and in those red sheets. It also feels like a symbol of aspirational dressing (dress for the job you want) and, ultimately, the American dream.”
Courtesy of neon.
Courtesy of neon.
The national colors were not the only nod to the American dream in Añora. Pierce and his team, Murrie Rosenfeld and Jonie Bertin, added subtle Western motifs in homage to nonconformist characters, such as Pleasers with Old West guns instead of renegade dancer Diamond’s heels. Pierce also used costumes to blend Ivan’s Russian roots with his desire for a new, independent life in America. For a New Year’s Eve party, Pierce dressed Eydelshteyn in a gold, flower-adorned suit by Russian designer Roma Uvarov, but adorned her Chelsea boots with gold spurs.
Pierce began the costume process by creating mood panels. “The first boards I received were sent to Mikey,” he says. “We had some of the same images, which seemed [like] destiny.” Ultimately, he took his inspiration off the page and onto the streets of Brighton Beach, where the film takes place. “We were completely immersed in Brighton Beach,” he says. “Our offices were there, the cast lived there, Sean lived there. That’s when we started to base things on reality and do a lot of research. We hung out at the club where we were filming. We got to meet people who were very representative of the characters in the film. Then the details began to materialize.” Baker was especially involved when the cast and crew arrived in Brooklyn. “Sean and I were standing on the street on Coney Island Avenue and he was telling me, ‘Look at that guy and look at that guy,’” he says. “We saw enough evidence in the real world from characters that informed us. “Everything was based on the truth.”
Courtesy of neon.
Courtesy of neon.
While the wardrobe team drew from brands such as Balenciaga, Khaite, Maisie Wilen and KidSuper, Pierce was also interested in sourcing smaller brands based in New York and Russia. He was able to exercise this more with Iván. “As a character, he’s super rich and could have anything he wanted,” he says. “But at the same time, you need that feeling that he’s still a kid. We had to mix very high-end luxury brands that would be easy for him to buy, but totally aspirational for other people, with streetwear that I think a young man that age would covet.” Nothing underscores that more than Ivan’s wedding suit: a custom jacket from New York brand Bontha, which Pierce paired with basketball shorts. “The mix of high-end luxury and the recklessness of youth seemed very appropriate for his character,” he says.
Courtesy of neon.
Costumes became essential to the character-building process of some of the actors, particularly Madison and Yura Borisov, who plays Igor, a gopnik on Vanya’s father’s payroll tasked with helping find Ivan when he flees the persecution of their parents. “What I loved about Yura was that she asked me early on if she could wear the costume,” Pierce says. “He ended up living in it. I used it to get to and from work, I used it on weekends, all the time. It was totally methodical. It aged him until he became a second skin. “It was simply Igor.” Madison, for her part, ended up performing a scene filmed at Ivan’s mansion in her own skirt and Pleasers (the sky-high stiletto heels worn by many dancers). “We had something completely different and she finally said, ‘This is what I feel like it should be,’” Pierce says. “She was kind of a costume person.”
Perhaps the most important piece of wardrobe is the Russian sable coat that Ivan buys for Ani after their wedding. The coat, a symbol of her promotion, is a source of pride for her. It’s such an important item that she impractically chooses to wear it (with a pair of heels, no less) when looking for Vanya. For Pierce, the moment Ani receives the coat is when she assumes the role of wife. “It was a moment where we felt like she was trying to take her power back,” he says.
Courtesy of neon
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