Lily Collins Gives New Life to Character Dressing
Lily Collins has been playing Emily Cooper, the heroine of Emily in Paris, for five seasons now. And while Collins favors minimal, clean silhouettes and quiet colors in her day-to-day, naturally, her own style has picked up on her character’s fearless approach to fashion. Take the outfit Collins wore yesterday, ahead of the series’ season five premiere later this week, as proof.
Seen boarding the Orient Express train in Paris (in the new season, Emily leaves Paris temporarily to head her company’s Rome office), Collins slipped into a travel look only Emily Cooper would be brave enough to pull off. Although the Saint Laurent look centered on a muted color palette comprised of peach and chocolate brown, it was the pieces themselves that channeled the audacity of a certain Midwestern PR mogul.
Sacrificing comfort for style, Collins wore a light pink satin romper by Saint Laurent that featured a draped bodice with lace accents. On top, she layered a brown trench coat over her lingerie underpinning. Accessories were reimagined, too: pointed-toe sling backs were worn in exchange of the more traditionally travel-appropriate sneakers and a structured clutch replaced bulky luggage.
As with many actors who play characters with an intrinsic sense of personal style, Emily’s sartorial signatures—think bold color pairings, playful silhouettes, and whacky statement accessories—have rubbed off on Collins’s fashion choices. But the actor has managed to seamlessly blend the two without leaning too hard into the campy tropes that define the character.
Last week in New York City, the actor did just that as she made her way to various appearances. Although she wore a loud animal print coat by Roberto Cavalli, its streamlined shape made the piece palatable. She added a sequined Fendi purse for some sparkle.
The night prior, Collins stepped out in an archival Karl Lagerfeld-era Fendi dress that she zhuzhed up with a cherry red Fendi purse. Her pair of baguette bags, while perhaps not intentional, felt pointed. Sarah Jessica Parker, the woman behind Carrie Bradshaw, made the cult accessory synonymous not just with Sex and the City, but with the idea that a character’s fashion can become as culturally impactful as the character herself.
