In ‘Bugonia,’ Emma Stone’s CEO Character Owns 10 Sets of the Same McQueen Power Suit
Fashion
Fashion
Costume designer Jennifer Johnson also discusses Stone's ‘comical’ Louboutin pumps. (Spoiler-free)
Emma Stone in "Bugonia." Photo: Focus Features
In Yorgos Lanthimos’ satirical psychological thriller, “Bugonia,” Michelle (Emma Stone), a high-powered pharma CEO, keeps a tight capsule wardrobe of what she thinks a CEO should wear. She dons the same black skirt suit, white starched shirt, and towering pumps all the time — whether she’s posing for a Forbes cover or filming a cringe-y corporate diversity video. She’s also wearing her uniform when kidnapped by conspiracy theorists, Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and his cousin Donny (Aidan Delbis), who think she’s an alien determined to destroy earth.
“I originally had the idea that Michelle was very, very, very banal,” says costume designer Jennifer Johnson, who studied “archetypal suit-wearers,” like politicians and C-suite notables. “She gave a list to her assistant, who went out and just bought 10 black Alexander McQueen suits and 10 Louboutin shoes, and that she had no real personality behind.”
In reality, Johnson — who’s developed a “shorthand” with the provocateur filmmaker since costume designing his Stone- and Plemons-starring triptych Kinds of Kindness — infused Michelle’s power suit with thoughtful layers of character development and style. “Yorgos really invites you to think far, far outside of the box, so I like to throw in some wild cards,” says Johnson, who looked at a range of Alexander McQueen and Saint Laurent silhouettes. She then custom-designed Michelle’s midi-length skirt and no-nonsense shirt to coordinate with a power-shouldered, slightly ‘40s-referential McQueen suit jacket. “It has a little bit of a playful, subversive shape to it, but it's really subtle.”
Michelle’s skirt features a generous leg slit, which underscores Teddy’s YouTube-influenced paranoia that the presumed extraterrestrial emanates radioactivity through her skin. On a practical level, the slit allowed flexibility for Michelle’s attempts to fend off and outrun Teddy and Don — and for laughs as she kicks off her towering Louboutins. “The heels were very comical,” says Johnson. “In one instance, [Stone] kicked them so high they landed on the roof of the house. It took 20 minutes and a ladder to hoist them back down.”
While snatching Michelle, Teddy and Don considerately grab her formidable, structured trench coat in a very distinctive purple-red hue. “Merlot? Chianti?” says Johnson, suggesting color names. In fittings with Stone, Johnson experimented with various silhouettes: “a classic” Macintosh style, power-shouldered '90s trenches, and “really exaggerated shapes” from contemporary Saint Laurent collections. “It always came back to the fact that Michelle needed to be really straight, and have some style, but not be too forward-thinking,” says Johnson, who ended up custom-making nine versions of the wine-hued trench from a bonded fabric sourced from Italy.
After chaining Michelle down in the basement of Teddy’s childhood home, the cousins — per their online research and chat room instructions — shave her head to prevent her mother planet’s GPS from tracking her via her hair. Teddy and Don change into suits and ties to question Michelle, who’s stripped of her power suit and wrapped in her just-boxy-enough trench instead. “It was really important that her face was framed and the shoulders didn’t overtake her,” says Johnson. “It was just finding those lines that felt like a piece of armor without looking too comical.”
Shorn of her long hair, and shielded by the trench, Michelle reveals complexity and layers. Over four days until a pivotal lunar eclipse, she tries to cajole, outsmart, and negotiate with her conspiracy theory-addled abductors. “At the beginning of the movie, she's the bad guy, and feels very evil. But as you get to know her, you do feel some connection and you start to wonder, ‘Who actually is the bad guy in all of this?’” says Johnson. “So it was important that she was able to move and have a little bit of a sympathetic feeling in her costume. But also it felt like it could protect her from the wildness of it all.”
On the day of the eclipse, Teddy and Don invite Michelle upstairs for a celebratory, yet ominous, spaghetti-and-meatball dinner. They even let her change out of her trench and dress up for the occasion — which involved careful deliberation amongst Johnson and the team. “Yorgos, the actors, and I initially talked about just cleaning Michelle’s suit and putting her back in that,” says Johnson. “But then that visually gives her the upper hand, where she's still the power player, and it was really important that we soften her.” Teddy gives Michelle an old dress from the closet of his absent, beloved mother, Sandy (Alicia Silverstone). The ‘90s-esque floor-length dress — ethereal with sheer puff-sleeves, delicate ruffles, and light ruching — serves as a counterpart to the cousins’ outdated suits. “They're wearing Teddy's father's suits,” says Johnson. “So it gives you some insight into the life that Teddy had before. They had some money and a life that was a nuclear family.”
To illustrate both Sandy’s history and Michelle’s vulnerability, Johnson and team also considered the design, style, and origin of the dress — almost assigning it a backstory of its own. “At one point we had something really formal, like a society dress Sandy wore to a fundraiser or a wedding, but that just felt funny — too much,” says Johnson. “This floral mauve beauty felt more sincere.” The abstract print of the flowing dress also sits in the same color palette family as Michelle’s trench — hinting toward the explosive conclusion to come.
"Bugonia" is now available in limited theaters and expands on 10/31.
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McQueen Peak Shoulder Leaf Crepe Jacket
Stone's exact jacket is part of McQueen's core collection.
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