Costume Designer Jenn Rogien on the Return of Russian Doll

Jenn Rogien has worked on groundbreaking shows like ‘GIRLS’ and ‘Orange Is the New Black’. Here, she chats about the wardrobe of the clever, quirky, time-looping series, ‘Russian Doll,’ with its second season premiere on April 20th. Jen discusses behind-the-scenes details as well as her close working relationship with Natasha Lyonne and how costumes can be an exciting, collaborative process. 

Quick self-care question: how are you doing and any plans for the weekend?

That’s such a lovely question. Today’s great. We shot in the rain today on my current show which is always a challenge but today’s great and sunshine-y and wonderful. 
As for the weekend: lots of sleeping. Not very exciting, I’m afraid. 

___STEADY_PAYWALL___

What can you reveal about Russian Doll’s style this season and its relationship to the narrative and characters? 

It won’t surprise anyone that Nadia’s (Natasha Lyonne) signature character stays much the same. We had set up her closet and her look as one that relied on a kind of uniform. She has her black blazer, she’s got her beautiful blouse, jeans and a well-heeled boot. It was a combination of style and function for the character who’s a real die-hard New Yorker but spends entire episodes walking around the streets of the Lower East Side. We introduced—gasp—a printed blouse. We had more story days this season: It wasn’t the same day over and over. There’s still a lot of repetition and loops. One of the new elements is that we see more time periods and we see a lot more of Nora (Chloë Sevigny), Nadia’s mother. There were little tweaks of who stays consistent and who moves forwards. Maxine’s (Greta Lee) look will feel familiar but has some new elements in play that are fun. Lizzy’s (Rebecca Henderson) look feels consistent: new pieces, same vibe. Alan (Charlie Barnett) and all of our favorites are back.

“There’s so many interesting, wonderful, cool-looking humans in the Lower East Side that it’s hard to say that this is the look of this neighborhood. One of the things that draws people to the LES is the creative energy and the old school New York artist kind of vibe that means everything goes.”

What’s the general style of someone who lives in New York’s Lower East Side?

There’s so many interesting, wonderful, cool-looking humans in the Lower East Side that it’s hard to say that this is the look of this neighborhood. One of the things that draws people to the LES is the creative energy and the old school New York artist kind of vibe that means everything goes. It’s the spirit of ‘I’m gonna be me.’ I noticed that as we were shooting on location is that the seasons changed and all of a sudden there was amazing street style when everyone took their coats off and got into spring—especially coming out after a pretty lengthy lockdown in New York to see people out about dressed. It was people embracing what they wanted to wear that they felt great in. 

Why did you decide to keep Nadia’s medallion necklace for season two?

Natasha and I talked about that in her fitting. It has a lot of family history embedded in it. It is actually key to one of the scenes in the season.

Could you speak about Maxine’s silver motorcycle jacket? Where can I find something like that?

We shoot the show in what we call the current season: We shoot in April so we make it look like April so we’re not fighting with oh everyone needs beachwear in April and oh that’s weird because the trees don’t quite have leaves on them yet. That jacket was a necessary layer to keep the seasonal continuity of the show going. Natasha sent me a screenshot of that jacket and said, ‘Wouldn’t this be great for Maxine?’ I believe we found that piece through on The RealReal. It worked for that scene. It was everything we needed it to be.

How much do you involve the main cast and directors in shaping the wardrobe?

Natasha had another director for this season. So there were two directors. I had conversations with both of them throughout the process. Natasha and Alex (Buono). I looked to Natasha for inspiration, guidance and insights into characters she had written on the page. How do I realize them with clothing? I adore working with Natasha, Greta, Chloë with Rebecca. I’ve worked with most of them. Greta and I go back to GIRLS. Natasha and I worked together for years on Orange. I had insights as to how her brain works and what kind of references she uses and how to interpret those. Rebecca and I had also worked together on OITNB. It was wonderful to approach this project with some common language and then it creates this amazing, open experience in the fitting room. Chloë I had the great pleasure of meeting on season one. We had a bit of groundwork already laid for Nora. Chloë has an incredible sense of language of clothing—not just fashion! She’s a fashion icon but also understands what clothes communicate and how to leverage that. She was keen into pieces that would help tell the story. Logistically this was going to play for several episodes or several days. What does that mean for my ability to move in these clothes?

Could you speak a little bit about your working relationship with Natasha Lyonne?

Natasha and I have worked together for a decade now. Going back to OITNB and she guest starred on GIRLS, played a totally different character so that was fun to do something a little mind-bending. The first season of Russian Doll was already four years ago that we shot it. She has an innate understanding of the character and of the logic of the series. It’s a show that has intense rules about time, about repetition about what that means for the characters and what journey and decisions that forces them into. Natasha is my strongest, best deepest well of information and that is invaluable as a costume designer to have someone who knows the answers.

Why do you keep returning to do shows with strong women lead characters?

Bottom line: I wanna work on shows I also wanna watch, that happen to overlap with shows centered on strong female characters or as important, complicated characters—it’s a complication that’s rooted in some kind of reality. I like smart shows—that’s not to say I don’t enjoy silly shows and comedies. There’s something about a compelling character series that I’m drawn to as a viewer and makes my work as a costume designer that much more compelling. Sometimes the most compelling characters are wearing normal clothes, but I can hopefully bring a dimension of the why behind those normal-looking clothes. Why is this character wearing a wrapped-around sweater in that scene. What is that telling me—up and out where this character is emotionally or what they do for a living or where they are in their story in that episode? Interesting stories, compelling stories and shows I wanna watch. 

Words: Sabrina Cooper