The Fashion of 'Emily in Paris' Season 5 Goes on a Roman Holiday

This story contains spoilers for Emily in Paris season 5.

What happens to a Francophile’s fashion sense when she arrives in the land of gelato, gondolas, and Gucci?

Audiences will have the chance to see for themselves in season 5 of Emily in Paris, now streaming on Netflix. This season, Emily Cooper (Lily Collins), the quintessential American in Paris, sets her sights on Italy and gallivanting across Rome and Venice, in addition to the French capital. What may come across as “too much” in Paris—yes, even by Emily’s existing sartorial standards—is just enough in a country where visual drama is everywhere you look, from ancient ruins to the Sistine Chapel. As a result, Emily’s famously eye-catching ensembles become even more graphic and showy during her Italian escapades.

“Italian women never shy away from being overdressed [with] glitter, feathers, et cetera,” the show’s costume designer, Marylin Fitoussi, tells Marie Claire. “[It’s] what a Parisian woman would never want to do. The word ‘overdressed’ in France is considered rude.”

For scenes in Rome, Fitoussi features an array of Italian designers, including Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, and Giambattista Valli. To further differentiate between the respective fashion sensibilities of France and Italy, Fitoussi experiments with palettes and patterns like never before.

“The colors in Rome are brighter than in Paris,” she says. “Paris became a little bit more monochromatic.” (Venice, on the other hand, evokes a “much softer palette” with shades of beige and light green, she explains.)

In Italy, broadly, Emily’s wardrobe leans heavily into polka-dot print, taking inspiration from Italian classic cinema. “I’m a very huge fan of the black-and-white Italian movies from the ‘50s,” Fitoussi says. “I made my tribute to Claudia Cardinale, Sophia Loren, and Anna Magnani, who were wearing a lot of polka dots in those movies. And I’m using shapes that are very Italian—more feminine, more flattering.”

Emily’s Roman interpretation of this timelessly Italian look? A white Moschino blouse and matching trousers with blue polka dots, paired with AGL shoes, an Alameda Turquesa bag, and black Carolina Herrera sunglasses.

Her Venetian style is more bespoke: “I had a chance to design exactly what I had in mind,” Fitoussi says of the custom Stine Goya set that Emily wears with Ridhi Asrani earrings in episode 10, a polka-dot piece with a “vintage silhouette, but with a very modern touch.”

“She’s not Italian, but Lily loves [it] a lot,” Fitoussi says of the Danish brand. “We printed the fabric in Denmark, she sent it to us, and we built the pieces in Paris in our workshop.”

When Emily ultimately leaves Rome and returns to Paris, her wardrobe is still daring, while managing to become more refined and sophisticated than in previous seasons. “Everything she’s wearing in Rome and Venice is more romantic and sensual, rather than Paris, which is more tailored,” Fitoussi says.

Emily is also sporting a new hairstyle, which further inspired the reimagining of her costume design this season. “The short hair allows me this freedom,” Fitoussi says. “She’s much more modern. For me, it’s the trigger for something—new concepts, new silhouettes.”

One of Fitoussi’s favorite season 5 looks is in episode 8. Emily attends a party wearing a navy wool Barbara Bui jacket and coordinating culotte shorts. An Essentiel Antwerp blouse is layered underneath; a Pierre Hardy bag and Valentino shoes finish the look.

“It’s a little oversized jacket with big shoulders and pinstripes, with hot pants in the same material,” Fitoussi says. “It’s a very feminine, strong silhouette—less romantic. She owned the room when she arrived, and it was great to see her with this powerful attitude.”

The show’s other female characters often wear looks rivaling the outlandishness of Emily’s outfits. Take, for instance, her BFF/budding pop star Mindy Chen (Ashley Park), whose season 5 entrance is marked by a flamboyant, bright green ensemble as she struts through a crowded airport.

“The head-to-toe lime green outfit was a strong concept.” So strong, in fact, that the vibrant costume prompted those in its presence to pause what they were doing: “I promise you, everybody stopped speaking when she arrived on set. She noticed that everybody was speechless. It was a very funny moment.”

And the Parisian siren herself, Sylvie Grateau (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu), ups the style ante this season with (literal) heavyweight looks. During a scene in Venice, she steps out in a striking chainmail dress by The Attico. Although the dress was weighty and not easy to move in, Leroy-Beaulieu stuck it out for the hours-long shoot.

“She said, ‘It’s heavy, but it’s my decision, I want to wear it,’” Fitoussi recalls. “The dress was beautiful on her.”

Sylvie’s style reflects her character’s personal evolution, which eventually results in her finding independence from a marriage that was weighing her down—just like the chainmail dress. “She gets stronger and more powerful,” Fitoussi says. “We use some very nice suits [and] a lot of archive pieces from Alberta Ferretti.”

Fitoussi estimates that 40 to 50 percent of this season’s costumes are archival garments, reflecting a pattern that’s emerging elsewhere in fashion, from red carpets to resale sites: Vintage is in high demand.

“Those archive pieces were from decades when the woman’s body was the center of the attention,” Fitoussi says. “And those clothes were beautiful, flattering, and you can have a life in them. I think we want to go back to the authenticity of what clothing is made for.”

The season finale ends on a cliffhanger. Will Emily continue her Euro tour and rendezvous with Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) in Greece? Was Mindy’s mentioning of a possible bachelorette party in Mykonos foreshadowing where we might catch these jetsetters next season?

Until we get a season 6 announcement, fans can take style inspiration from Emily in Paris: The Fashion Guide, Fitoussi’s new book that chronicles her design and sourcing processes for the show.

“We have created an interesting character to look at,” she says. “We’ve really succeeded to bring this young, fish-out-of-water American from Chicago to Paris. Now she’s a joyful character with a sophisticated, elevated, particular French style.”