Spoilers for Materialists ahead.
Toward the end of Materialists, Celine Song’s exploration of the contradictions of dating and modern love, pragmatic professional matchmaker Lucy (Dakota Johnson) reaches an epiphany.
“When you love someone, it’ll be easy,” she says. “There’s no math.”
Until then, Lucy relied on a quantitative approach in determining matches for her clients — and herself. Her data-driven methodology also comes through in her professional aesthetic, full of straight lines and formulas of solid neutrals, as crafted by costume designer Katina Danabassis. But, as Lucy allows love into the equation, her wardrobe begins to bloom, sometimes literally with florals.
Lucy’s chic, straightforward lineup of suit separates and classic, fine-knit cardigans is partially informed by Song’s own experience working as a matchmaker in New York City — a fun fact that adds depth to the character’s style.
“It was important to convey that [Lucy] wasn’t stealing anyone’s shine when it came to her clients. It has to be professional, and appeal to a high-end clientele,” Danabassis, who led costume design for Song’s last (and very different) love-triangle film, Past Lives. “When you’re millionaire matchmaking, you have to look the part. But also not come across as someone who’s necessarily available.”
Lucy eventually allows herself to be available when confronted with two options: the seemingly-perfect financier Harry (Pedro Pascal) and her ex-boyfriend John (Chris Evans), a struggling actor who still lives with roommates.
Ahead, Danabassis takes us through how Lucy’s love story unfolds through her wardrobe.
Lucy’s Power Suit
Always focused, Lucy targets new clients as she commutes to work — and her outfits support the pitch. In the opening scenes, she confidently strides in a strong-shouldered Aritzia blazer and knee-high Paris Texas boots, nearly causing finance bro Robert (Eddie Cahill) to have whiplash as he walks in the opposite direction.
“I was really interested in the idea of putting her in a power suit,” says Danabassis. “Not only because it’s a little bit fresh, but also it seems to be something of a bygone era.”
Reflecting a NYC, always-on-the-move sense of dressing, the costume designer teamed the navy pinstripe blazer with a black, wide-striped mini skirt from a Versace suit and a white satin Banana Republic blouse. ”It just felt very New York; timeless, but powerful, modern, but throwback — and iconic,” says Danabassis, referencing a standout memory of a woman in a skirt suit and Dries van Noten-esque thigh-high boots strutting across Bowery Street in Manhattan.
Danabassis also dropped in an Easter egg.“It’s also a nod to Working Girl,” she says, referring to the 1988 classic starring Johnson’s mom, Melanie Griffith, whose character famously wore sneakers with skirt suits to the office.
Lucy’s Blue Gown
Lucy’s a top performer at work — with nine marriages to her credit. She’s even invited to the latest nuptials of two high-net-worth (and high-maintenance) individuals. Lucy opts for a strapless, draped Proenza Schouler dress in a striking peacock blue that attracts the eye of the viewer and Harry, the rich, swoon-worthy brother of the groom.
“We need something that pops. But simultaneously, it shouldn’t be something that’s going to steal any shine from the bride,” says Danabassis of her thinking, which led to the pairing of the “origami-style dress” with silver Bottega Veneta heels. “Also, the dress is not too fussy. In reality, yes, it was a fussy dress. We had to make sure that it was tied perfectly [at the back]. But it was really simple. Like, you can function in it.”
Lucy multitasks like a pro: crisis managing the bride’s cold feet, charming potential new clients, and slipping out of the opulent ballroom to reconnect with John, a cater-waiter at the reception. She also agrees to a steamy dance with Harry, in exchange for him agreeing to call her agency.
“It’s a work function, basically. She’s there to support, but not be a wallflower entirely,” says Danabassis. “Because she’s still a woman in New York and doing her thing.”
Lucy’s Date-Night Looks
She ultimately agrees to consider Harry — “a unicorn, an impossible fantasy,” as Lucy describes him — as a prospect for herself, and not her loyal clients. Over a series of dinner dates (where they strategically assess each other through their methodical view of relationships), Lucy wears refined, uncomplicated pieces, like a dark St. John blazer over a Leset tank and a strappy black halter dress from Laundry by Shelly Segal.
“She’s appealing to his sensibilities, which is just classic, chic, upscale, and a little bit minimal,” says Danabassis.
When a previously skeptical Lucy agrees to go all-in with Harry, she elevates her signature black monochrome with a sheer Simkhai top, layered over an Only Hearts bra, and a vintage double-breasted blazer. Her knee-length Another Tomorrow skirt, with dynamic tasseled fringe (a more fun take on the business-like skirt she wears earlier in the film), takes on a life of its own as she and Harry do a dance of sorts through the hallways of his sprawling $12 million Tribeca penthouse.
“We theorized that it should [evolve from]her not trying too, too hard to ramping up to, ‘Okay, I’m gonna do a little bit more here.’ But keep it very New York, chic, [and]clean,” says Danabassis. “That black outfit popped against the warmth of his apartment, and the Gucci shoes were amazing because of the shine and the metallic chain at the back.”
Lucy’s Flashback Florals
A flashback reveals Lucy and John’s emotional breakup, occurring when they were both cash-strapped actors but chasing divergent goals and lifestyles. Lucy’s delicately ruffled floral Dôen top, Nili Lotan straight-leg jeans, and Loeffler Randall mules feel sentimental and hopeful.
“It’s that cute look that you put together for going out for your anniversary,” says Danabassis. “That’s not trying too hard or trying to match the same level as the guy. It’s really just her.”
Lucy also wears a sweet, thrift-store-bought heart necklace that reflects a differing mindset from her present-day sleek Spinelli Kilcollin rolo chain that telegraphs geometry.
“When she’s dating Harry, she’s in this city mode,” says Danabassis. “When it’s John, it’s more naturalistic, grounded, floral, and ethereal.”
Lucy’s “Reveal” Outfit
John finally lands a role in an off-off-Broadway play and invites Lucy, who brings her now-boyfriend Harry. Her outfit — a long ‘90s-style black leather jacket by Coach, white MNG cami, and Zara high-waisted, wide-leg jeans — fits the venue and post-show dive bar drinks.
“She knows what world she’s entering into, like a dingy Brooklyn playhouse thing. But Harry doesn’t know where he’s going. So he wears his ‘Oh, this is my country blazer,’” says Danabassis, about Harry’s ‘fit: a tweedy Ralph Lauren jacket, caramel-brown Zegna button-down, Hermès dark jeans, and Bottega Veneta oxfords.
But the casual-cool ensemble also feels like a slight reveal of her long-suppressed feelings for John — and harbinger of an impending divide with Harry.
Lucy’s Wedding-Crasher Dress
A traumatic event pushes Lucy to accept and follow her feelings, instead of crunching the numbers. She shows up on John’s doorstep with luggage packed for a now-canceled Iceland jaunt with Harry. Lucy and John then take a spontaneous drive upstate to crash a rustic wedding. Luckily, John keeps a cater-waiter suit in the trunk of his beat-up car. Lucy presumably plucks a floaty, buttercream yellow Dôen dress out of her suitcase and doesn’t change out of her black Nike sneakers. Although the dress — with a curved empire waistline, watercolor florals, fluttery ruffles, and floral appliqués — evokes country wedding more than the luxury vacation she was on her way to take.
“I mean, sure, she could have packed that for Iceland. Like, [Lucy and Harry] were going on a date somewhere, and she’s trying to do her special thing and get more in tune with herself. That’s the idea there,” explains Danabassis. “Really, it’s just a romantic dress that hits the hidden theme of flowers as a symbol of love that was carried throughout the movie.”
Kind of like completing a complex math calculation by maintaining all the variables along the way.
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