Heidi Bivens
The fashion mastermind behind Euphoria’s vibe, Heidi Bivens opens up how she created some of the most talked-about wardrobes on television
The HBO Max website was down for many users on the last Sunday in February—mere minutes before
Euphoria’s season two finale was set to hit the streamer. The show, written and directed by Sam Levinson and starring Zendaya (who is also an executive producer for the second season), became the most tweeted-about show of this decade in the Us—according to a report released by Twitter, there have been 30 million tweets about it since season two debuted in January. Asia hasn’t escaped the “Euphoria high”, with the show proving a popular streamer and trending across social media in the region.
Against the dark, raw and fantastical portrait of drug addiction, love, depression and domestic abuse that keeps breaking the boundaries of a modern teen drama are the covetable, fashion-forward costumes curated by Heidi Bivens and her team.
The outfits reflect each character’s progression throughout the series, and have resulted in a social media storm; Euphoria fashion captures the zeitgeist for Gen Z, but fashion lovers of all ages are being inspired. When we suggest Bivens is responsible for creating this buzz, she humbly demurs. “If I’m credited for something, it’s in the ether. Creatively it [the fashion] is there; maybe it hasn’t bubbled to the surface yet. But I’m often inspired by real people and real fashion—ideas that are out there and just haven’t hit mainstream culture yet,” says Bivens, the series’ costume designer. “So I think, if anything, maybe I was just able to tap into what was coming before it fully arrived.”
Euphoria may be the first TV project that Bivens has worked on, but she has already been recognised by the industry, receiving nominations for Outstanding Contemporary Costumes Emmy awards for the show for two years in a row. A fan of Nineties style, Bivens has earned a reputation for creating influential wardrobes for coming-of-age youth culture films such as Spring Breakers, and is very careful about the projects she chooses. “In our industries—in fashion and film—if
you choose similar projects over and over again, you get pigeonholed often,” she says. But when Euphoria came along, it felt like a rare opportunity to be given the freedom to be creative and have fun, and explore the characters in depth and over a longer period of time. “I just got lucky when Sam Levinson gave me permission to push the boundaries of what we know as reality in terms of what people really wear in the world,” she says. “I do feel really blessed and I understand now that the show could be perceived as an important marker in the history of television, even if it’s just for the style and the storytelling.”
The costume building process for
Euphoria is a unique and tremendously collaborative experience. Bivens often gets texts from the young cast with suggestions as to what they think their character might wear. “All the girls love fashion and have great taste and ideas—they are very aware of what is current. It was my job to stay on track and stay true to the style codes I had created for each character,” says Bivens. But looking at Maddy’s (Alexa Demie) low-waist two-piece ensembles, Jules’s (Hunter Schafer) anime-inspired looks with creative layering, or Kat’s (Barbie Ferreira) bondage and corset-heavy punk girl aesthetic raises the question of whether teenagers really dress like that nowadays. “I would love to know the answer to that question,” she says, laughing. “I have friends texting me, like, ‘I just saw two Maddys on the street’. Hopefully it inspires people to be more adventurous with how they express themselves through the power of clothes.”
Bivens is also using her influence to make sustainable choices for the show: more than 60 per cent of the women’s wardrobes were second-hand pieces in season one, and the trend continued in season two. “It’s important for contemporary costumes to use existing pieces. I always get weary of the idea of building everything [new] when it’s not necessary,” she explains. “To create an authentic look for most projects, you want a mix of worn and vintage with new depending on the character and overall context of the show.” This mix is evident in the show: designer brands like Miu Miu, Jacquemus and Amina Muaddi are subtly blended with affordable high-street and vintage pieces. Bivens has a costume team of 15 people: shoppers who scour the vintage boutiques in Los Angeles, and assistant costume designers who, together with Bivens, work with niche brands to create custom-made pieces; for example, Lexi’s (Maude Apatow) New Year Eve outfit was a collaboration with Batsheva. A perhaps surprising amount of attention is paid to underwear in the show, and especial care is taken to cater to Jules, who is a transgender girl, and Kat, who is plus-sized, and who both appear in multiple scenes dressed in lingerie. Angelina Vitto, an assistant costume designer who helps Bivens curate the looks, tells Tatler: “When sourcing, we start by thinking about the character and where they would shop—where do they find their clothes, what inspires their style, what’s on their Instagram feed? And once you start that deep dive, it kind of takes off.”
While fans are impatiently awaiting the release of season three, Bivens— who has not yet received the scripts— hazards a guess at what is to come: “I have a feeling that we might be out of high school.” Can we expect an Asian cast member when the Euphoria crowd head to college? “Actually, it’s something I’d love to talk to Sam Levinson about—we need a strong Asian character,” she says. “The show has a lot of strengths; one of those has been diversity, but I feel like there’s a lot more room to support diversity in the cast, and I hope that with season three, we’ll continue to do that.”
Beyond Euphoria, Bivens made her directorial debut with four episodes of
Gossamer, a motion-capture animation TV show based on a book by Lois Lowry. She also co-founded The Film Path, an organisation that aims to help younger people, especially those identifying as Bipoc and/or transgender, to find their way into the creative industries. “For so long, looking around on set, there wasn’t enough diversity” she says. “It’s important for everyone in the industry, even the fashion industry, to look around and see. And make sure that, wherever you are working, it represents the people you’re working with”.