🤐 SPOILER ALERT 🤐
Style tells a story in The Perfect Find. When protagonist Jenna Jones (Gabrielle Union) returns to New York one year after her breakup hits the tabloids and costs her her glossy magazine career, she turns to former professional rival Darcy Hill (Gina Torres), who hires her to reinvent her digital fashion start-up. But you don’t have to know the details of their fraught history to see that these two women are polar opposites — their clothes do all the talking for them. Where Jenna is understated with soft flowing fabrics and a rosy pastel palette, Darcy is over-the-top, favoring bold, colorful jackets and statement pieces. A hot pink jumpsuit paired with a chain mail headpiece? That’s just another day at the office… or on The Perfect Find set, where Torres’ accessories continually turned heads: “That chain mail head piece in particular was very popular,” she tells Tudum.
The only thing these two women have in common? A wardrobe you’d kill for.
“[Director] Numa [Perrier] and I wanted to give Jenna and Darcy two very special looks that fit their characters,” costume designer Amit Gajwani tells Tudum. “The way they approach the world is different, and we wanted the costumes to reflect that. Jenna has a softer approach. She has overcome and healed. She’s approaching her life with a sense of ease. In contrast, Darcy’s wardrobe tends to be harder. She had to fight to get to where she is and is very proud of this.”
Finding someone who shared her maximalist vision was essential for Perrier, who pushed Union and Torres to take fashion risks for the film. “I really wanted to see Gabrielle in a palette that I hadn’t seen her in very much in other films, a more pastel-toned palette,” she says. “When it came to Darcy — Gina Torres being such an iconic woman — we wanted to dress her to the nines. We wanted her to just be an absolute New York fashion woman who’s bold and unapologetic and takes up all the space in the room.”
Despite their sartorial contrasts, Union sees Jenna and Darcy as “mirror images” of one another. “What they don’t like about each other is really what they don’t like about themselves,” she told Netflix. “Every time there’s a clash of these titans, it’s really a battle of self. Throughout this movie, they come to realize that they have a lot more shared experiences.”
Torres agrees. And in true Darcy fashion, takes things a step further. “There’s no one way to be a powerful Black woman,” she tells Tudum. “There’s room for both of their aesthetics. We don’t have to be crabs in a barrel. We can support each other, we can hold each other up, we can work together for the greater good of a company, of a movie, of a moment.”
Take a tour through Jenna and Darcy’s most fabulous looks below, as Gajwani breaks down what every choice means for their characters’ journeys.
“That was a vintage T-shirt. I wanted Jenna to feel like she’s travelled back in time to her high school days. It was a T-shirt she left at home and just threw on — a connection to her past.”
“They were vintage overalls. I wanted to keep this look a bit relaxed and youthful. I also wanted to show that Jenna is ready to tackle the city again.”
“It’s a pink cape by Nina Ricci and the pink silk pants are Stella McCartney. This look for Jenna was very important. I wanted her to feel like a butterfly flying through the office. I wanted something flowy and feminine yet professional.”
“The coat is by Manish Arora. Darcy feels like a queen of her realm. The look was based to make her regal.”
“The dress is by Attico. The color was very important with this outfit. She was connecting with her friends, and I wanted to use something brighter and vivid. It’s a very happy and fun moment between the friends, and I wanted Jenna to shine.”
“That dress is by Galvan London. The intention was to keep Jenna chic
and sexy without being overt about it. I wanted a silver metallic dress to
make it feel like Eric has found his jewel at the party.”
“The white shirt is Christian Dior. For this look, it was Jenna’s take on a suit with a button-down shirt. It was a play on your conventional work attire.”
“The jumpsuit is by Philosophy and the chain mail headwear is by Paco Rabanne. We get a sense that Darcy is a powerful woman who loves to experiment with fashion and is not afraid of it.”
“Here was another choice for a structured yet flowy dress. Since she
is running around, we wanted something easy, and I love the brown loafers with it.”
“Once again, we needed something easy. With Jenna, even when she’s spending a day at the farmers market, she’s still stylish.”
“The jacket is by a local Newark designer, Marco Hall. The iridescence was to represent the chameleon quality of Darcy.”
“The dress is by Christie Brown, a Ghanaian designer. The dress, with its lace overlay, suggests the romantic side of Jenna. After all, Eric is attending the dinner party.”
“The dress is [also] by Christie Brown. Here’s another moment where we get to see Jenna be very fashionable and yet practical given the nature of her work.”
“I wanted Jenna to feel like a sculpture.”
“The blue tasseled hem dress is by Nina Ricci. I wanted to give her something that was playful for that scene since Jenna and Eric were playing footsie.”
“I feel this is a great look because of the Swarovski top by Giuseppe Zanotti. This shows us that Jenna is a sexy woman who isn’t afraid to go for what she wants.”
“[Darcy] feels like a teacher or headmistress that has caught students doing something they are not supposed to do. I love this look.”
“The jacket is by Armani. This was Jenna’s casual look. And given the moment in the story, it was chosen to give her a feeling of comfort — something that wraps around her.”
“This dress shows [Darcy’s] vulnerability. She’s wrapped up so many emotions inside of her.”
“The dress is also by Marco Hall. This dress shows Darcy’s release from all of her past hang-ups. It’s colorful, it’s metallic, it’s one shoulder… it’s her chance to let go.”
As for what Darcy is thinking in this particular moment, Torres has a theory: “I believe her mindset is to be the most glamorous, fabulous, fantastic, unbelievably ridiculously ferocious grandmother ever on the planet.”
“The rose Swarovski cape is by Monique Lhuillier, and the pink slip dress is by Galvan. This shows Jenna is proud of being a working woman, who’s about to have a child and is the queen of her life.”
