Tailored Suiting Is Still The Core Of Industry’s Costume Design This Season – Essence
The art of power dressing is tough to spot if you’re looking for significant details that are on the nose. For decades in America, well-tailored suits were the pinnacle of what it means to hold power in a workplace. In England, your attire is linked to your class level–but suits don’t fit in culturally with how we view money in America–wealthy individuals are at times seen in uninspiring attire similar to the tech CEOs who are based in Silicon Valley. However, boring pieces, stylish high-end selections, or flashy clothing can be linked to wealth in America. In Max’s series Industry at Pierpoint & Co, a fictional banking company, suits are worn but so are pencil skirts, luxe trench coats, and boring blouses that are acknowledged as power pieces. This season feels like a bit of a departure for the lead women characters, Harper Stern, played by Myha’la, and Yasmin Yazdani (Marisa Abela). In past seasons, Harper struggled a bit with her personal style while climbing her former job’s power structure. Separately, Yasmin regularly wore items that signified her wealth: power skirts, chic jackets, extra-large, expensive-looking work bags, and pussy bow blouses that were well put together. She regularly exuded confidence at a high level, too. These gatherings make this season’s costume design enjoyable–there appears to be a tide change for both characters.
Formerly a high-powered trader, Harper regularly wore deep-hued blazers and tops with a structure that spoke to the role she spent countless hours proving herself in at Pierpoint. These pieces also alluded to the power she was hoping to gain access to at Pierpoint. But, now, she’s been banished from the world she once knew, and that’s reflected in her clothing. “Harper is an interesting character in that she reads the weather very well around her, then can anticipate how it might change,” this season’s costume designer Laura Smith tells The Cut. This means that Harper embraces whichever environment she’s in and assimilates into it as a move to end up on top or with the most power. “It felt like the way to start Harper’s look trajectory this season was to embrace business casual and play into the idea of a young woman gaining entrance to a whole different side of the city,” Smith adds since Harper has moved to another part of London, Tottenham.
Currently, Myha’la is wearing clothing that could be described as downright meek. In one scene this season, she dons a cream knit vest and white blouse, which both don’t feel very Harper. But, it’s spot-on for how she has to navigate her new role at the ESG investment firm Future Dawn which solely employs women–she’s an executive assistant to the firm’s female CEO. The tones she wears are unthreatening, too, they’re warm and muted, browns and whites.
In past seasons, former costume designer for the series Colleen Morris dressed Harper in brands like Theory, which felt like new money–not too flashy but also not overbearing. This departure rings loudly this season. One tan coat of the past sticks out in my memory; it was the pinnacle of classy, but it was also nearly a copy of a coat that Yasmin had previously worn. Since Harper has fallen from grace after being fired by her former boss, Eric Tao, she is navigating creating an identity for herself. By proxy, she is on a journey of self-discovery when it comes to her clothing choices. In one scene, she dons an Eres bikini and a lengthy robe while she’s with Yasmin on a yacht vacationing. This notes that Harper is always dressed for whichever occasion she steps into.
Separately, Yasmin, a moneyed publishing heiress who currently works at the trading desk at Pierpoint, is having a downward turn concerning her clothing choices. This season, her costuming when she’s in the office is still deemed posh and professional. In-office, she dons suits, skirts that hug her curves, and gorgeous blouses–despite this, there are moments when she doesn’t appear as polished and glossy as she has in past seasons. Her out-of-office attire leans into hoodies and baseball caps that won’t get her noticed by the eager paparazzi following her after her father’s disappearance.
Additionally, this season she is struggling with anxiety while dealing with her father’s financial issues and potential embezzlement charges. As a result, her color palette this season consists of muted tones instead of energetic ones. Deep navy and black are the colors she has been leaning on in recent episodes.
Yasmin being on the trading floor is also a change for her. It’s nerve-rattling and a bit anxiety-inducing for her. So it is clear that she has to be her most confident version of herself, so she shows up still dressed in suiting separates. A baseball cap might always be within her reach, but so is an elegant overcoat she can throw on as she steps in and out of the Pierpoint offices.
Overall, the differences in costume design this season can be attributed to the shifts in both Yasmin and Harper’s lives. While both women outwardly aim to showcase that they have it all together, there are tiny moments when you can see aesthetically that they do not. This is compelling and perhaps one of the more human details of Industry. For Yasmin, this looks like showing up to work one day in the same outfit she wore a day prior. And for Harper, this means stepping away from the new money attire of her past; it is being shed for a quieter disposition and wardrobe. In total, their latest attire highlights their omnipresent search for stability and acquiring wealth plus status on their own terms.
