Mindy mines aspirational project close to her heart
Kaling shows off her couture in museum exhibit
When Mindy Kaling offered costumer Salvador Perez a job on her sitcom about an OB- GYN, he wasn’t initially interested.
For good reason: The Emmy- nominated designer behind the Barden Bella uniforms in Pitch Perfect ( other credits include Veronica Mars and Think Like a Man) didn’t want to get stuck making boring scrubs and lab coats for The Mindy Project.
Little did he know he’d be designing for the Carrie Bradshaw of gynecology.
“I actually turned this job down several times,” Perez acknowledged at a preview for an exhibit at the Paley Center for Media in his honor, “The Mindy Project: Six Seasons of Style.” ( now through Oct. 1) He changed his mind after finally meeting Kaling.
“Mindy was like, ‘ I want ( the clothes) to be aspirational. I love fashion,’ and I was like, ‘ I like this lady, I like everything she’s saying.’ ” he says.
He wound up creating costumes for the entire run of the fashion- forward show, which spent its first three season on Fox before moving to Hulu.
The two worked hard to form their own “fashion language,” developing a wardrobe for Kaling’s TV alter ego, Mindy Lahiri, that’s a bold mix of bright hues, color- block patterns, floral designs, matching accessories and a heavy- hand of glitter and buttons. There were only a few scrubs.
The result sent two powerful messages to viewers: Smart women can have careers and be interested in fashion, and women, no matter what body type, can wear cutting- edge fashion flawlessly.
“I think, because Mindy is not the average actress size and ( looks) impeccable, it’s shown regular- sized girls all over America that you can have fun with fashion no matter what size you are,” Perez says. The outfits may look familiar even to Kaling fans who don’t watch the sitcom — Perez designs much of Kaling’s personal wardrobe at this point, too. The designer recognizes that Mindy Project viewers of all sizes want to dress like Lahiri, and Kaling, and he has good news for those fans: He promises that a colorful, Lahiri- inspired retail line is “in the works,” but has no details to share on the project yet. Right now, his focus is on putting the five- months pregnant Kaling into trendy clothes with “lots of stretch” for the final weeks of shooting. After that, he’ll be working with Kaling again on her new NBC comedy, Champions.