Designer Cynthia Merhej Gives the Bonjour Tristesse Costumes an Authentic Touch

“Deciding what to wear to the beach is kind of my nightmare as a designer,” says Cynthia Merhej, the mind behind independent brand Renaissance Renaissance. And then Merhej was enlisted to assist costume designer Miyako Bellizzi for Durga Chew-Bose’s debut film, a remake of the 1958 French classic Bonjour Tristesse, which stars Chloë Sevigny as—you guessed it—a designer on a beach vacation.

To be fair, there’s more nuance to Chew-Bose’s film than that. The story follows Lily McInerny as the teenage Cécile enjoying her summer in the south of France with her father, Raymond (Claes Bang), and his young girlfriend Elsa (Nailia Harzoune). All is mundane and sun-bleached, with days of lounging on the rocky beach, and smoky, wine-filled evenings. That is, until Sevigny’s Anne comes to town. An old friend of Raymond and Cécile’s late mother, the guest adds a touch of shade to Cécile’s sunny summer paradise.

Anne’s arrival brings change, both atmospheric and sartorial. A designer living in Paris, she arrives to the beach house with a bag full of fabulous clothes—and an unsolicited motherly touch. Bellizzi had to contend with both of these realities when dressing Sevigny’s character for the film. The costume designer looked to women fashion designers of a certain age—those who have established both a practice and sense of personal style—for inspiration. Muccia Prada and Phoebe Philo sat front of mind, as did jewelry designer Sophie Buhai (who also lent pieces for the film) and Georgia O’Keeffe. “She had this uniform she always wore, and that’s something I’m really inspired by,” Bellizzi says of the late artist. “As an artist or designer, the way you present yourself is often very different from the vision of how you design your world.”

Merhej, too, who joined Bellizzi on the French set, acted as a form of inspiration. The character of Anne in Bonjour acts as a kind of surrogate Renaissance Renaissance designer, taking ownership of Merhej’s designs and sketches throughout the story. And while Merhej claims it to be a nightmare to dress for the beach, in actual practice, she was able to succeed, getting a handful of 19th-century long linen shirts at a local market and styling them with a pair of self-made linen pants throughout production. “That was beautiful,” Bellizzi recalls of Merhej’s on-set style. “You looked great.”

Merhej’s appearance on set was at the behest of Chew-Bose who, according to Bellizzi, “had her heart set on” getting the designer involved. The original Bonjour Tristesse, a 1958 film by Otto Preminger starring Jean Seberg and Deborah Kerr, featured costuming by Givenchy and jewelry courtesy of Cartier. Both brands politely declined the opportunity to get involved in the remake, according to Bellizzi, but Chew-Bose still wanted to maintain that collaborative spirit. So, the team looked to more modern brands to fill the roles, which led them to Renaissance Renaissance and Merhej.

“[Chew-Bose] said to me, ‘When I see Anne, I see these clothes,’” Bellizzi recalls. “I read the script with Cynthia’s designs in mind to help me build the world of the characters.”

Sevigny also benefited from Merhej’s presence, considering her character takes inspiration from the designer and her work. “I felt in safer hands,” the actress says. “It provided an easier route into discovering who this person was by seeing what she was creating.”

Instead of creating every look, though, Merhej was focused on two hero pieces—a yellow dress for McInerny’s Cécile and a red one for Sevigny’s Anne—as well as other “bits and bobs” Bellizzi styled with vintage pieces and other items she sourced for production. Merhej calls the experience of creating work for Bonjour “nicer” than designing for her brand, though she quickly corrects herself.

“I don’t want to say it’s nicer, but it’s more interesting,” she clarifies. “You’re not restrained, thinking, ‘Is this going to sell?’ You’re not trying to hit any targets commercially or thinking, ‘What’s the vision of the brand? How will this affect it?’ You’re just thinking, ‘What would Anne wear?’”

The answer is a pared-back, sophisticated wardrobe of oversize button downs and layered chiffon skirts. For a night out, a red dress—the one designed by Merhej—was draped to fall off one shoulder, then gathered at the skirt with ribbons. In this scene, we also see Cecile in her “Anne original,” a pale yellow confection with a fitted top and asymmetric bubble skirt that allows a spray of pink tulle to escape at the hem.

Clearly, both Sevigny and McInerny enjoyed their time in Merhej’s designs. The latter wore a Renaissance Renaissance look to a recent screening of the film in New York, and while Sevigny was familiar with Renaissance Renaissance prior to filming, production allowed for a more formal introduction to the brand. Long a patron of independent designers, Sevigny now considers herself a fan of Merhej’s work and even wore a Renaissance Renaissance dress to the premiere of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans last May. “I always admire independent houses,” she says. “It’s such a challenging business, especially for female designers. So I have a lot of admiration for what [Merhej is] doing there.”

But clothing isn’t the only thing Merhej lent to the film. The designer also provided her sketches for a quiet scene between Anne and Cécile. Some of the images were ripped right from Merhej’s own sketchbook, while others were created for the benefit of the film. Sketches can be quite a personal aspect of an artist’s work, but Merhej felt no fear in displaying them.

“I wanted to do anything I could to help this make this project happen,” she says. “I believe in Durga’s vision and what she’s trying to do.”