On February 11, 2022, the newest season of Hulu’s television series Dollface premiered. Melissa Walker, a costume designer with years of experience in the film business, joined the show’s second season as a costume designer. In light of the present situation, numerous recent TV series, notably Hulu’s Dollface, have included the continuing COVID-19 epidemic into their plots, as well as their clothing choices. Melissa Walker designed the show’s second season outfit, which was the right mix of verity and vintage fashion.
In an interview with WWD, Melissa Walker explained her inspiration for Dollface’s outfit designs, saying,
“Coming into the second season, particularly after the pandemic, we attempted to make a deliberate effort in how it was represented in the women’s clothing,” says the producer.
“We attempted to make it less Gucci and more something achievable with their price points after not working for 18 months, but we also had fun experimenting with various designs.”
Who is Melissa Walker?
As a designer, Melissa Walker has worked on a variety of large projects during her career. The designer created the costumes for PEN15, a 17-episode TV series that aired in 2019. She also created the costumes for the 2019 action comedy film Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.
Walker has designed costumes for a number of other television shows, including Florida Girls, Drinks of My Life, Workaholics, and Roadies. The designer established a great reputation by collaborating with a number of major production companies, including Marvel Studios, Invincible Pictures, Lionsgate, Netflix, Warner Bros., and Clubhouse Pictures.
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Melissa is inspired by her own costume designer community as she searches for more sustainable and eco-friendly manufacturers, independent designers, and economic businesses that are also accessible to the common woman. She collaborated with ateliers like Bomme Studios, a Los Angeles-based manufacturer that values ethical labor and sustainability. For several of the Dollface outfits, Walker collaborated with the East Village Vintage Collective and Zingara Vintage.
Walker also used items from Povitsky’s loungewear line Sleepover by Esther and Mitchell’s accessories line Beis in many sequences throughout the season. Dennings’ persona Jules’ character growth is also represented via her style. Her character is well-known for being an introvert. The costume designer spoke about her experience working on Jules’ outfits. “It was more about this confidence problem because we wanted it to be conveyed as she becomes more conscious of her persona,” says the director.
“And along the path of her working a bit harder at Woom, discovering herself, and finding that sweet spot where she’s content with herself and the decisions she’s doing.”
Melissa recognized the big-time difference between the two seasons for the show’s wardrobe curation when working with the season’s characters. She experimented with Y2K-inspired items as well as other current and larger fashion trends, but without becoming too trend-focused.
Melissa Walker explained the difficulties she had while working, saying,
“When designing a modern film or program, you always have to walk a fine line with the current season’s trends since the work you shoot won’t be televised for six months to a year.”
“I’m drawn to cyclical tendencies rather than flashes in the pan.” I also sought to include new designers among basic items so that each character’s outfit does not have an evident time stamp or expiry date.” “We wanted to really go into each individual character, creating their own tale, color palette, and textiles they wore,” she said. “We divided them somewhat while keeping them in this buddy circle and making it plausible.”
Find out more about Hulu’s Dollface.
The film Dollface tells the tale of four closest friends. Kat Dennings, Shay Mitchell, Brenda Song, and Esther Povitsky, all of whom live in Los Angeles, perform the parts. The narrative follows these four friends as they negotiate their friendships, professions, and love lives in their late twenties. The second season of the show will show each character going through a personal transformation. It will all come down to how the four live their lives, whether it is via a new business endeavor or a love connection.
