Jocelyn Pierce, the films costume designer, seesAnoraas a story of the American dream.
Ani and Ivan are each searching for a kind of salvation that the myth of America promises.
Pierce uses clothing to telegraph some of those ideas of hope, possibility, and ambition.
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There are actually very few saturated colors in the costumes, she says.
It also feels like a symbol of aspirational dressingdress for the job you wantand ultimately of the American dream.
The patriotic colors werent the only nod to the American dream inAnora.
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Pierce began the costuming process by creating mood boards.
The first boards that I had got sent to Mikey, she says.
We had some same images, which kind of felt [like] kismet.
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We were fully immersed in Brighton Beach, she says.
Our offices were there, the cast was living there, Sean was living there.
Thats when we started to ground things in reality and do a lot of research.
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We hung out at the club where we were filming.
We got to know people who were closely representative of the characters in the movie.
Then the details started to materialize.
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Baker was especially hands-on when the cast and crew arrived in Brooklyn.
We saw enough evidence in the real world of characters that informed us.
Every single thing was grounded in truth.
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She was able to exercise this most with Ivan.
As a character, hes super wealthy, he could have anything he wants, she says.
But at the same time, you need that feeling that hes still a kid.
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He ended up living in it.
He wore it to and from work, he wore it on the weekends, all the time.
He was totally methodical.
He aged it down until it was a second skin.
She was sort of one with the costume.
Perhaps the most significant piece of costuming is the Russian sable coat Ivan buys Ani after their wedding.
The coata symbol of her ascentis a point of pride for her.
For Pierce, the moment Ani gets the coat is when she assumes the role of a wife.
It was a moment where we felt like she was trying to take her power back, she says.
