Interview: Costume Designer Allison Pearce on ‘Superior’
Superior, the feature-length directorial debut of filmmaker Erin Vassilopoulos which made its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, centers on twin sisters Vivian (Anamari Mesa) and Marian (Alessandra Mesa). Vivian is a housewife leading a tranquil, peaceful life with her husband Michael (Jake Hoffman) when their lives are suddenly thrown in a tailspin after the arrival of the more outspoken and wildly ambitious Marian (Alessandra Mesa), the lead singer for a rock band. While Marian originally says she is there to record new music in a peaceful environment, she is actually on the run from a dark and mysterious past, one that is brought to the surface by the appearance of the mysterious Robert (Pico Alexander) who threatens the new life she has built for herself.
Stylish, unique and bold, Superior immediately makes an impression on viewers with a stunning opening sequence involving a red jumpsuit that pops against the film’s more muted cinematography. We spoke to costume designer Allison Pearce about her impeccable work on the movie, as well as her work on Aubrey Plaza-starrer Black Bear.
Fantastic work on the movie! Can we ask how you became involved with the project?
Coincidentally, Rob Lietzell, the DP from Black Bear, recommended me as the designer for Superior. We had just worked together earlier that year. I read the script and watched the short, and I really loved the story. I was very drawn to the idea of working with identical twins and using costume as one of the sole ways you tell the characters apart. I was inspired by the concept of visually showing Vivian and Marian becoming less estranged as shown through dress. Once I met with Erin, we connected over music right away. Marian’s character and costumes are very intertwined with her music, and that was one of the things I was most excited about when I read the script. In our first meeting, we talked about all the female musicians that we could draw inspiration from – Exene from X, Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth, Alison Statton from Young Marble Giants, Blondie’s vibe in the 70s. I’ve been in bands and I actually throw a monthly party in Philadelphia where we feature traveling and local musicians, so I’ve always looked for parallels with characters and music. Music is a big part of my life.
I wanted to ask about the red jumpsuit. It’s so striking and so memorable, and really sets the tone for the rest of the movie considering that it’s the very first thing we see on screen. How did you find and decide on that look in particular? Was it something Erin had in mind from the beginning or did you both develop it together?
It was absolutely not scripted and totally something I came up with out of necessity. Erin and I discussed Marian’s character arc and blood red was an important color for her. She brings blood red into Vivian’s world. We were shooting at night, and we wanted Marian to really pop and stand out in this vast black space. In this scene, we see Marian go through the trauma she is reacting to throughout the entire film. And, functionally, we needed a costume that would allow Ale to run, get hit by a car, lay on the ground, with a full night shoot of stunts, and be warm and comfortable. I think the night we shot that scene it was 10 degrees outside. So I said “why don’t we try a jumpsuit?” It fit in the timeless 1980s world we were creating, and we had already shot the scenes later on where Marian wears the blue jumpsuit, so that style was definitely in Marian’s world. I found some really amazing coats to go with the jumpsuit. But in the end, Ale decided she’d just wear the jumpsuit by itself because she felt like it was so striking. I love the way [cinematographer] Mia [Cioffi Henry] made the red stand out!
So the film is set in the ’80s. What’s it like doing costume design for a movie set in a specific area? What sort of research did you do? And were there any specific visuals or designers that inspired your costumes for the film?
Erin’s color palette that guided us, Mia, production designer Maite Perez-Nievas and me, included visuals from Red Desert and Rosemary’s Baby. So that was on my brain when I started doing research. The interesting thing about designing a period film that’s set in the 1980s is you draw on all the other time periods leading up to that moment. I didn’t want any of the characters to read like magazine advertisements for 1987; I wanted them to feel layered and authentic. For Vivian, her look reminds of a Daphne du Maurier character, and she wears classic feminine silhouettes in more delicate fabrics when we first see her. Vivian’s color palette is neutrals and very rich jewel tones, in lighter fabrics like silks, chiffon, knits, chenille, lace and wools. Andy McDowell in Sex, Lies and Videotape, Chloe Sevigny in Last Days of Disco, Alexa Chung RTW from a few years ago are some of the visuals I took inspiration from. One of the ways I differentiate Marian and Vivian is fit and length. For example, Vivian is a classic length dress, ¾ secretary dresses from the 60s and 70s, whereas Marian’s skirt length is very short and almost mod. For Michael, I looked at Perry Ellis ads from the early 1980s – I loved tweeds and mixed textures for him. Also, Michael is very 80s heartthrob icons like Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy – kind of nerdy but very relatable. I wanted him to look like he wasn’t very put together and not super match-y. Lots of heavier earthtones, corduroys, nubby wools, which worked very well in their house because he didn’t compete with the strong colors Maite used in the sets. Robert was a bit of a challenge, and I’m super happy with the way his character turned out. I love where we landed with his color palette. One of my favorite colors we use in the movie is that chartreuse green shirt we see Robert in towards the end of the film, when he’s in the bar with Vivian and the events really start to spiral out of control. Marian sees Robert throughout the film and the audience doesn’t really know if it’s happening or a hallucination. His character needed to feel real yet evil. I think that’s accomplished with his greens, browns, shiny leathers, and his jewelry. I love Robert’s silver earring and his big creepy ring we see when he brushes the hair off of Marian’s face, after he hits her with his car. It’s those little details that make him so sinister. Oh, and his walking boot! How weird is that?
I absolutely adored Pico Alexander’s outfits in the film, especially the leather jacket. How and why did you decide on that specific approach for his character?
Thank you so much. As I said, Robert’s character was a little bit of a challenge. Erin and I had discussed ways to create a sinister character visually. Pico is very handsome, so we talked at length about how costume could inform his character and make him appear more evil. Some of my influences for Robert were Nick Cave, Bryan Ferry, Dennis Hopper from River’s Edge, Vincent Gallo from Buffalo ‘66. We wanted to make him sinister but also still kind of rock n’ roll, in order to visually link Robert and Marian together. I remember asking Erin how Robert and Marian met and the storyline was they had met at a show. So even though he has money, he’s into music and the lifestyle, including the drugs. It’s funny, because Pico was one of the last actors to arrive on set, and his costume turned out to be one of the hardest to source. We had been shooting for a few weeks on location before Robert’s scenes. Erin and I had discussed the idea of a leather trench coat for one of his coats. Turns out, it isn’t super easy to source a leather trench coat when you’re shooting a movie in Corning, NY, with hardly any resources around. We were basically shooting in a fashion desert. But I found a very random Wilsons Leather Outlet store about 5 hours away, and they had the one – the coat of Robert’s dreams. My superstar assistant Jeff Werner went and bingo! You have Robert’s trench coat, which really completed his look.
Marian’s outfits are more colorful than Vivian’s, which is something that naturally begins to switch as they each take on the other’s persona. What was the process of designing the costumes for each of them like for you? Was your approach influenced by their storylines in the film?
Costume is definitely a direct result of the storyline. Costume design is there to support the character and the actor’s performance, so it needs to make sense. Without story, costumes are just bursts of fashion on camera. I used red as the color that Marian brings into Vivian’s world. We first see Marian in the red jumpsuit, it’s a moment of severe trauma for her. Then when she gets to Hornell, she wears her red leather gloves and boots as if she’s trying to hide her trauma and her experience. When we see Vivian and Marian begin to switch places and pretend to be one another, we slowly see Vivian taking on the red in Marian’s wardrobe. It really culminates in the climax of the film, and the sisters are dressed almost identical in that scene. One thing the sisters kind of share is white shoes. I love the absurd quality of a white shoe, and generally how jarring and impractical it is, yet works very well in this timeless world. The burgundy jumpsuit is a really interesting moment – they start to call each other out for making their own clothing choices even though they’re pretending to be one another. Vivian says to Marian “why are you wearing that?” And Michael comments “I haven’t seen that since our first date”. In that moment, it’s far less about Marian wearing exactly what Vivian would wear, but more about Marian taking on her own version of Vivian and making it her own.
You also did the costume design on Black Bear, which also has a red costume that is very striking and really captures people’s attention. Was that coincidental or did you decide to go for red for both films because of how expressive and eye-catching it can be?
I definitely wasn’t planning to use red in Superior, but we ended up using it as a pop for costumes, and Maite used it for production design as well. Black Bear was very nature and environment-based for me. We filmed it in the Adirondacks and the greens of the landscape, blue and blacks of the lake, and neutrals and browns of the woods acted as a guide for the costumes. I think the whole tone of Black Bear was very understated and beneath the surface, whereas in Superior, I was encouraged to make very bold choices. In both Superior and Black Bear, I saw parallels in pairing women experiencing trauma and distress with the color red. I think color is a straightforward visual cue for the audience and it brings you in close to what the character is experiencing in that moment.
I noticed a lot of coordination between some of the shots and some of the costumes when it came to lighting and color, particularly the scene of Marian arriving at Vivian’s house in the beginning. Did you work closely with Mia to figure out a mood or a color scheme? What was that process like?
Mia and I discussed color constantly, along with Erin and Maite, our production designer. The bright, colorful quality of Vivian’s house was somewhat challenging for me, but not limiting at all. Mia and I were on the same page about costumes throughout making this film. We had a WhatsApp group message between the 4 of us and we were constantly discussing what we were going to tackle next. I think that scene in the beginning of the film when Marian first arrives, and her and Vivian are in the living room is really a tense reunion for them. They’re both in neutral toned clothing, however, and the house really comes alive in contrast. Mia was very invested in showcasing costumes through cinematography, and it’s really valuable to me to work with someone like that. She wanted to capture the texture and detail of the costumes, and bring the audience visually closer to the characters in our story. When I would show Mia our fitting photos or share my ideas and plans with her, she was able to incorporate costumes into her cinematography. I feel like it was a true team effort.
Superior premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 31, 2021.