How a Stranger Things Kid Inspired Littles Most Enviable Look

Showing up to your middle school in a hot pink, custom-fit plaid suit and asymmetrical chunky heels? Now thats a power move. Youll find it partway through Little—the “adult turns young again” comedy starring Regina Hall, Issa Rae, and Black-ishs Marsai Martin. Few scenes in the film vibrate with as much attitude and sheer triumph as the moment when Martin, who plays the young-again version of Halls tough-boss character Jordan, enters the halls of the school that once tormented her with a major glow-up.

Although Little is not a fashion movie per se—it isnt set in the offices of a knock-off Vogue, like its mean-boss-movie cousin The Devil Wears Prada—its aesthetic is still meticulous. Each characters emotional arc can be charted by the clothing they wear. Halls horrible boss character, Jordan, begins the film in crisp ensembles and red pants; by the end, after learning the error of her ways, shes softened, donning a flowy orange and yellow Stella McCartney dress. Her assistant, April (played by Rae), also goes on a journey. Her Instagram-worthy creative looks disappear as she tries to take Jordans place; while playing boss, April overcompensates, piling on enough cheetah prints and accessories to make one colleague ask why shes dressed like Cookie Lyon. In the end, she finds her own form of authoritative fashion.

But the main event in the film is definitely Martins “Little Jordan,” whose wardrobe is enviable even for adults. As costume designer Danielle Hollowell told V.F in a recent interview, the film is meant to be aspirational: “Its sort of like black girl magic, with joy and laughter.”

That was Hollowells guiding principle as she designed the films most memorable looks—like that beguiling hot pink get-up, which was actually inspired by an outfit shed seen on Stranger Things actress Sadie Sink.

From an early gig on Chappelles Show to Little, Hollowells process has remained the same. She begins by drawing inspiration from anywhere she can find it: “It can come from something that I see at a flea market, or when I'm just driving around and I see people selling things, or from a magazine clipping, or from various parties that I might be at, or going into costume houses, or my friends.” The get-up she crafted for Tyrone Biggums, one of Chappelle Shows most memorable characters, was inspired by a homeless man she saw on the street selling an assortment of goods, including a ceramic white heart—an accessory that Tyrone, too, always wears.

For Little Jordans first post-makeover look, Hollowell had to walk a fine line—finding an outfit a tween would think was cool, without veering into the realm of age inappropriate. So she started by thinking about colors. “It had to be something that kids react to,” Hollowell said. “And, of course that's got to be pink.”

Then she saw it: Sadie Sink photographed standing on a street corner wearing a pink printed suit from the Fendi Resort 2018 collection. “It wasn't the same suit,” Hollowell said, “but it was the same print.” Eventually, she approached Fendi. “I was like, Youve got to tell me that you have this suit,” Hollowell said. “And they're like, By golly, yes we do.”

When Hollowell and her team got the suit in and fitted, she said, “It was magic when [Martin] put it on. We were like, Ah, this is it.” The shoes were Jacquemus—hot pink and orange, one with a square heel and one with a round heel, a design Hollowell figured “kids would find interesting.” Add in some vintage glasses and a sheer Prada blouse with a camisole underneath, and the look was complete. Both director Tina Gordon and Martin responded to the finished ensemble with a hearty, “Yes, yes and yes!”

Hollowells favorite outfit of all, however, belongs to April. Its the one Raes character wears in the very beginning of the film as she bikes to work—a sheer T-shirt with an image the films designers made in-house, depicting a heroic black woman diving down to the earth, inspired by Beyoncé and Jay-Zs “Apeshit.” On top of it she wears a jacket inspired by the colors of the Jamaican flag, its back emblazoned with the words “Black People Read.”

“That literally is my favorite,” Hollowell said. “Because it really spoke to that character and the individuality that she had.”

Perhaps the most quiet artistic flourish of all is not any single item of clothing, but who made the clothes featured in the film. Hollowell made sure to incorporate as many black designers as possible—including Virgil Abloh, Agnes Baddoo—who did a lot of the films purses—Brother Vellies, EBJ Gallery—which supplied a lot of its earrnings—and Romeo Hunte.

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