‘Anora’ Costume Designer Jocelyn Pierce on Crafting A Stripper-themed Fairy Tale
Frequent Spirit Award nominee for The Florida Project and Tangerine, writer-director Sean Baker’s latest film returns to the world of sex workers. A stripper-themed Cinderella story, Anora stars Mikey Madison as the titular stripper, Anora/”Ani.” Set in Brooklyn, New York, the story follows her during an eventful two weeks as she tries to find her place in her slice of the Russian-speaking neighborhood of Brighton Beach. Desperate to eke her way out of her stripper days, she can’t believe her luck when a heir to a Russian oligarch, Ivan “Vanya” (Mark Eydelshteyn), falls head over heels for her. Within days, they are married, and she is suddenly thrust into a world of new money opulence. However, when Vanya’s parents find out about the marriage, their enforcers quickly descend on the young couple. Is Vanya her knight in shining armor? Or has the nightmare only begun ….?
We recently spoke with costume designer Jocelyn Pierce about crafting the various looks for Baker’s contemporary tale of ambition, love, and betrayal.
You worked on one of my favorite films from last year, Spirit Award winner Richard Linklater’s charming comedy-noir, Hit Man.
Thank you! Juliana Hoffpauir was the designer and I was her costume supervisor. It was very fun to work on.
On Anora, what did you want Ani’s clothes and jewelry to say about her motivations and state of mind?
There wasn’t a specific thing that I was trying with her looks, other than I wanted them to serve the story and her performance. The choices speak to her job. Where she works isn’t a traditional pole dancing club, it’s a lap dancing club in our film. So, there’s a practicality. For instance, the girls in the club have to wear one-piece dresses. For that look, we wanted really shiny material or textures that could catch light very well. Her first look in the club is this great leather dress that zips down the front and the material has a very attractive sheen to it.
How long were you on Anora and was it all filmed around New York?
We started pre-production in December and finished around April. We were in Brighton Beach and Midtown Manhattan for all of it, besides the week in Vegas.
How big was your team?
It was me, Jonie Bertin, and Murrie Rosenfeld. I love those ladies! They’re so creative. It was a small team, but we were so in sync with each other.
How many costumes did you have for Ani?
It was something like 27 costumes. We see her in a few different worlds even though the film takes place over the course of two weeks. From a costume perspective, I broke down the film into three categories: the club, the girlfriend week, and then, wifey.
How did you start creating her varying looks?
I started with mood boards of visually interesting looks for a young woman who is a dancer in a lap-dancing club. We spent a lot of time researching in the club that we actually filmed at and met many dancers. Our [production] offices were in Brighton Beach, so we spent a lot of time with that community. It felt like a cultural anthropological dig of the people that we’re representing. Sean had his own ideas and Mikey did incredible research too, she was really fully immersed [into the character.] It was a very fluid collaboration.
What about Ani’s “girlfriend look” when she spends the week with Vanya at his mansion?
Her girlfriend look is more about who she is in her personal style, maybe showing some of her aspirations. A lot of people are talking about the electric blue Hervé Léger bandage dress she wears on her first trip to the mansion. I’ve seen these TikTok videos about that dress, and it’s thrilling to hear everyone’s take on the significance of that dress. It’s a status symbol signifier for Ani. She works hard and she’s got her own aspirations to make it out of this working-class situation—she’s dressing for the job she wants.
After they get married, Ani and Vanya spend most of their time chilling at the mansion.
She gets more playful as she gets into “wifey” mode, because then, she’s got money to play with and access to more of the clothes that she actually wants to wear. I hope it looks like there’s an arc to the film when it comes to her personal style. We had a lot of things in the room and just worked from our gut. Once we all started to know our characters a lot better, then you can tell when things feel right. We were just living with Ani and getting to know her.
What did you like or sympathize about Ani’s character?
I have a lot of respect for Ani; there’s a strength to her that’s admirable, a sense of ownership that she has over herself that was really beautiful. She works hard, she’s tough, but we also get a hint of vulnerability at the end of the film that’s relatable.
You’re referring to the scene with Igor (Yura Borisov) in the car, right? I love how he inadvertently ends up being the compassionate vector in the story.
He’s the empathy and the kindness in the movie. I’ve heard beautiful feedback from those who have seen this film, and that’s the thing that people seem to be ruminating on. It’s nice that it’s so thought-provoking. Annie is really vulnerable in that moment, which is relatable. We’ve all experienced heartbreak or loss in whatever way. I also love her strength throughout the movie, but we get to see a window into her vulnerability as well.
What was the process of crafting Vanya’s look?
Mark was so instrumental in finding the nuance and the details. When we started with his mood boards, it was mostly luxury fashion. When we met Mark, he’s charming, eclectic, fun and playful, which didn’t exactly fit our first impression of his character. He introduced us to many Russian designers that I wasn’t aware of. We used the Russian designer, Roma Uvarov, a lot in the film. Vanya is a gamer, so he’s into some street wear. We were lucky to have all these Brooklyn artists making custom pieces for him. I loved the mix of high-end fashion and street wear for him, because he really is still such a kid, a reckless, youthful kid, but he’s also charming.
For either Vanya or Ani’s wardrobe, did your team have to make anything from scratch? Or were they custom designs and off-the-shelf items that you embellished?
For Ani, we shopped most of it because it’s contemporary. Many of her dancer outfits were from real dancer stores in New York. We tried as much as possible to work with smaller, independent designers. We also had great vintage archives to pull from. Since this movie is set and shot in New York, we wanted to represent as many New York designers as possible.
What were some of your favorite costumes on this film?
I really love the wedding looks for both Vanya and Ani, when they got married in the Little White Chapel in Vegas. She’s in this cream-colored corset and cut-off denim shorts, and he wears a custom blazer with basketball shorts. I think that encapsulate their characters. I love how like impromptu and romantic it was—we chose to find pieces that would be in their suitcase rather than an overly-styled wedding look. I also love Ani’s blue dress. I love all of their Vegas clothes, including her lace white two-piece. Vanya takes some big swings with his leopard skin Dolce and Gabbana shirts.
What would you like audiences to take away from this film?
I’ve been really moved by the response from the audience. I see on Instagram that there’s a line of people around the block at an independent cinema for a movie about a human story that’s not about superheroes. There’s this need for human stories. People feel so connected to it and are moved by it. When we were making the film, we all felt strongly about independent film and making art, and the fact that people are resonating with it is so beautiful. It feels important. My friends from Brighton Beach were moved by how Brighton Beach is represented in the film. On Instagram, I’ve been getting a lot of DMs from young Russian designers and young Russian people thanking me for how Vanya was represented—he looked real to them. It’s nice to have people feel represented and seen. Especially with the tough year year-and-a-half that the film industry has endured, for an independent film to be making a splash like this, it feels really important.
Anora is playing in theaters now.
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