In Gabrielle Union's New Rom-Com, 'The Perfect Find,' Fashion Does the Talking

Move over, Miranda Priestly. The world of cinematic fashion editors is about to get a few new faces — and trust us, they're not as traumatizing as the editor-in-chief of Runway. Gabrielle Union and Gina Torres star in Netflix's The Perfect Find, out on the streaming giant tomorrow, in a new take on what it means to work in fashion (and find love in the process). The story involves Union's character, Jenna, landing a glossy magazine job in the hopes to resuscitate her career in the fashion industry, which, of course, means that the clothes are central to the plot, not just set dressing. And costume designer Amit Gajwani knew that going into the project, so he didn't hold back when it came to crafting eye-catching looks for the cast, especially for Darcy, played by Torres.

"The one thing I did on this project is avoid looking at any fashion movies because, in my mind, I wanted to create an image that was true for me and true for the characters and the script," Gajwani says of diving heels-first into the world of designer labels and romance. "I didn't want to be directed or dictated by anything that I've seen in the past. All I knew was I wanted to keep it different from anything that we have seen. And I feel like we achieved it."

How, exactly? Well, Gajwani knows that viewers are going to compare the film to The Devil Wears Prada, so he expanded beyond legacy luxury labels and offered up unexpected looks.

"I wanted to give it more of a European feel," he notes, before sharing that he sources looks from small labels as well as big names. "We collaborated a lot with designers from Africa, I think that also separated us. We had probably four or five designers make custom pieces."

Union, who's also no stranger to an iconic film look or two (See: the Halloween costumes inspired by her character Isis in Bring it On, which Union calls a gift and a reminder to her that she's made a real impact on the culture at large, saying, "These are gifts that keep on giving and remind me that every decision you make as an artist is important. No detail is too big or too small, each decision has an impact on the audience and the artist."), says that the process was collaborative, something that she's maintained on multiple projects. For The Perfect Find, that meant being open to new looks and labels as well as offering up some of her own thoughts — after all, the 50-year-old actress isn't new to the game.

"Being on the same page with costumes, hair, and makeup departments is critical in character development and execution. I've been blessed to work with some pretty amazing people who help me expand my ideas of who this woman is and can be," Union says of working with Gajwan, adding that she doesn't hold back when things don't quite look (or feel) right. "I make suggestions in terms of sizing for different brands, or how I'd like something to fit, or colors that I might wear that can make me look green. I veto anything that I don't believe is in alignment with what's best for the character — or my allergies."

The Perfect Find, which is based on the novel of the same name by Tia Williams, opens with a look that'll skyrocket into the upper echelons of fashion movie history. Torres wears a red leather jumpsuit and a shimmering metal hood when we're introduced to her. Gajwani knew what he was doing — and he knows it'll get people talking.

"With Gina, she's the editor of the magazine. She runs the magazine. With her, I wanted to push a little more. She knew that the hottest pieces in fashion are what she was going to wear. That's the image that I had for her," Gajwani says of the look. "It gives her this fashion sense, but also this powerful woman sense. It was a fantastic outfit and that headpiece was everything. I'm pretty sure that's a piece from Paco Rabanne."

Union emphasizes that her own look in that scene was major, too. In fact, she singles it out as her favorite ensemble from the entire movie, thanks to a perfect storm of confidence and attitude. Union even ranks it up with some of her most memorable looks of all time, including that cheerleading uniform.

"My favorite outfit is the one Jenna wears to the first meeting with Darcy, knowing that this woman can't stand her, and she has to find the line of professionalism and putting everyone on notice that she's back," Union explains. "There have been some iconic looks over the years from the uniform from Bring It On, the red power suit in Two Can Play That Game, or the black Gucci dress in Bad Boys II."

Don't think that Torres's show-stopping looks mean that Union's fading in the background, however. Gajwani emphasized that for her character, tailoring was paramount, especially when it came to a particular low-cut dress that steals the spotlight in more ways than one.

"I didn't want it to be overly sexy, but there needed to be some sort of sex appeal, hence that plunging neckline, where we're not screaming sex, but there is something very intriguing about that dress," he says of Union's plunging silver dress. "You want to know more about this person just by the way everything fit on her. We went through a couple of dresses for her for that scene, but that dress just stuck out to me. She was like the diamond that was shining in that crowd. We wanted to make sure that dress looked like it was a second skin on her, and it just hugged her perfectly."

It's not news that fashion moves fast, jumping from trend to trend at breakneck speed. When asked if he felt like some of the looks from The Perfect Find would feel stuck in 2023, Gajwani brushed off any fears of looking dated (even die-hard stans of The Devil Wears Prada have to admit that Andy Sachs's outfits don't necessarily transcend trends, Chanel boots and all), saying that he knew going into the film that he wanted to craft something that would stand the test of time and the trend cycle alike.

"What I try to do is avoid anything that was super-trendy. I wanted to give it a bit of a classic approach to the fashion, as well, so that we could be timeless," he says. "That's where we nailed it. It could be 2023, it could be 2025 because there is this classic aspect to it." 

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