written by Emma Fraser, Backstage
No matter where “Hacks” veteran comic Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) is performing, she always seems to achieve sartorial gold.
The fourth season of the HBO Max comedy centers on Deborah hosting her own late-night talk show—her dream job—in Los Angeles; but she doesn’t stray too far from the sparkly, high-end, and, yes, often metallic attire that’s dominated her Las Vegas closet since Season 1.
Meanwhile, Ava Daniels’ (Hannah Einbinder) position as the show’s head writer sees her mixing old and new, pairing sophisticated blazers with familiar T-shirts. Other garment choices for Ava, such as wearing a retro ’90s FC Barcelona jersey in the writers’ room or carrying a Louis Vuitton tote, were inspired by “some of the fun L.A. fashion girl things” the show’s costume designer, Kathleen Felix-Hager, saw around the city. “There’s a very specific L.A. vibe we tried to capture for Ava this year,” she says. “This is my hometown, and I love to show the world an L.A. that local people see.”
The Emmy Award–winning designer, who has worked on acclaimed series such as Showtime’s “Dexter” and HBO’s “Veep,” recently received her fourth Emmy nomination for “Hacks,” created by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky. She’ll begin prepping for the show’s fifth season at the end of this month.
On the Season 4 finale—spoiler alert!—after dramatically quitting her hosting gig, Deborah struggles to find inspiration, returning to Vegas before traveling to Singapore to perform, where she cycles through old jokes and some familiar glittery ensembles. “It was amazing to be in Singapore and to see Deborah melting down, and [to] try to portray her losing her mind and her depression,” says Felix-Hager. “[All] while still trying to maintain her Deborah Vance aesthetic.”
On this season’s penultimate episode, when Deborah quits her job on live TV, she’s wearing a black dress she previously wore on Season 1. Why revisit this particular look for such a pivotal moment?
Jean and I talked about that moment a lot, what she wanted to look and feel like when Deborah made that announcement to the world that she was leaving the show—the thing she’d been striving for for four seasons, and then giving it up for Ava. When Jean first saw that dress [on Season 1], she loved it, but she never thought she could wear it. She didn’t think she could pull it off. I convinced her in the fitting: ‘Let’s try it on, just you and I. Who cares—if you hate it, you hate it.’ It did all the things that made her feel really sexy and empowered. She loved that dress.
That dress was always something we were saving for a special moment in the future [to rewear]. This seemed like the perfect time because it’s beautiful, it’s powerful, and it’s sexy; Jean felt really confident in it. I do like the fact that we sometimes repeat things for Deborah, because she’s a collector of clothes. She has this whole warehouse full of clothes, so why not repeat some of the greatest hits?
Where do you begin conceiving designs for a finale that not only requires many costumes but also takes place in a different country?
I knew we were going to do this at the very beginning [of the season]. I thought about it for a long time. We didn’t go to Singapore until the end of the season, so that was helpful. We got to Singapore, and we were doing that big montage [set to Faye Wong’s “Dream Lover”], and I think [Smart and Einbinder] each had 16–18 changes.
I love how Deborah looks in Singapore. The scene where she’s dancing on the roof is one of my favorite shots our director of photography Adam Bricker has ever done; I cried. It was 4 a.m. on the rooftop of this hotel. It was a crazy short amount of time that we had to film. They put [“Dream Lover”] on, and Jean started dancing—and it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. The way that the caftan caught the light and moved—and her. I could literally watch that scene on a loop forever.
What kinds of conversations do you have with Adam regarding lighting, since Deborah often wears sparkly materials?
We’ve been working together going on four seasons; we know each other’s language and how things are going to light. Generally, the collaboration I have with him is more like, “Do you think this will work in this scene?” Because sometimes he has a particular way of lighting. I want to have a little bit of info before I decide what I’m going to put people in.
Between him and Rob Tokarz, our production designer, there’s a lot of talk about tone, color palette, and things like that. I feel so inspired by Adam, because every frame is a work of art. He is so talented. The way he uses light and color—I try to put another layer on what he’s doing.
Gold is one of Deborah’s signature stage colors. What was the thought behind her outfit choices in Singapore?
Her Singapore stage looks were very much a recall to how we saw her in Season 1 in Vegas, with the long dusters and the sparkle. She’s rehashing old material in Singapore. She’s not doing anything new, and she’s working through this interpreter. She’s doing a very lazy version of Deborah Vance. I wanted to mimic that in her wardrobe costume choices, because I thought, Well, if she’s going backwards in time, I’m going to go backwards and use the same silhouette that we saw in Season 1.
There was a gold set we made, and a black, silver, and gold one. She fell asleep [onstage] in a gold pantsuit. That [outfit] was a repeat from Season 1. Going back in time and using old pieces for that also helps tell the story of how she’s being very backward-thinking, not forward-thinking, in that moment.
In the final sequence of the finale, Ava briefly thinks Deborah is dead because TMZ has published Deborah’s obituary. Instead, the veteran comic is incredibly hungover from the night before. What did you want to convey about Deborah in this moment?
There was a lot of discussion about that outfit with Lucia and myself. Lucia wanted her to look pretty disheveled and down in that moment—pajamas or sweatpants and Ugg boots. But every time we tried on sweatpants, it just didn’t feel like Deborah. So I had made that [floral set]. You can argue that it’s pajamas, but it’s a lounge-y silk outfit. Plus, we needed color in that room. That hotel room was very white and cream, so there needed to be a pop of something in there.
The day before [shooting], I sold it to Lucia, as far as being pajamas. We tried to wrinkle it, but the fabric was so beautiful that it wouldn’t even wrinkle properly. We misbuttoned it, and she only has one earring on; her makeup and hair are a mess. Between the costumes and the hair and the makeup being disheveled, it sold the fact that Deborah had sort of been up all night, drinking, but still looked gorgeous and Deborah Vance-like. I liked that she was in a silk outfit we custom-made.
Earlier in the finale, Deborah visits former Deborah Vance Industries CEO Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins) at the factory he’s now running. What inspired the stunning, long, shaggy vest she’s wearing?
That and the rooftop dancing are my two top favorite Deborah Vance looks of the season. That vest is something Jean found; she had this friend whose mother had passed away, and she had all these incredible vintage pieces. Jean found this piece, and she brought it to our very first fitting. She said, “Do you think there is a world where Deborah Vance could wear this?” And I was like, “Yes, absolutely.” I was plotting all season long when that moment would be.
It is the most beautiful piece. It’s lamb’s hair and reversible. I liked keeping [the look] all white. I thought, She’s in a factory. Why would she be anything less than absolutely dramatic? It walked so beautifully, the way she moved in it. There’s no label or anything on it, so I’m not quite sure [of the year], but it’s hand-painted, leather, shaggy, and gorgeous.
What is one piece of advice you would give to a costume designer about moving their whole setup to a completely different country?
My advice would be to do your research. I was fortunate because there was a crew in place in Singapore. This amazing woman [Meredith Lee]—who is a costume designer in her own right, a costume supervisor, and has her own team—set up the department for me while I was in L.A., and we had a lot of Zooms. She was absolutely fantastic, incredibly helpful and collaborative. I was lucky to have that level of support. It’s important to suss out the great local talent because that was invaluable. Any city you go to, if you’re filming something, you want to surround yourself with people who really know the place and resources. I was able to have an amazing crew in Singapore.
