THE JOURNAL
Mr Angus Cloud as Fez in Euphoria, season 1, episode 1, 2019. Photograph by Mr Eddy Chen, courtesy of HBO
We all know that fashion trends are cyclical. You can almost set your watch by them. Every season, some retro throwback or another rears its head for the second or third or fourth spin. Only now it feels as though this shift happens by the minute. Remember the relaxed-fit, Mr Kurt Cobain-approved jeans that once pooled over your sneakers? They are the skinny-fit, indie-sleaze drainpipes of tomorrow. Fed through the cultural churn of TikTok, Depop Drama and Diet Prada, fashion and streetwear move at dizzying speeds.
The old-school medium of TV is usually too slow to keep up, but one show has managed to hold up a mirror to this fast-paced, post-modern metaverse, Euphoria. More than anything else on our screens right now, it captures this moment. It also shows the clothes Gen Z are wearing and, perhaps more importantly, desiring right now – an amalgamation of trends, cult streetwear brands and emerging young designers.
Euphoria’s costume designer, Ms Heidi Bivens, has a track record in bottling teen spirit. She previously worked on Reservation Dogs, Mr Harmony Korine’s woozy feature Spring Breakers and Mid90s, Mr Jonah Hill’s directorial debut. But with Euphoria, her work is taken to new levels, complemented by the hair, make-up and special effects.
Set against the backdrop of a whirling, neon Southern Californian suburb in near-constant party mode, the looks worn by the female-led cast are picked from the niche corners of Instagram, vintage resale sites and anime. Maddy’s 1980s body-hugging, cut-out high glamour, Jules’ sickly-sweet Sailor Moon look and Cassie’s memeable butter-wouldn’t-melt pastel hues come to mind. But the show revolves around Rue, whose dress sense jars markedly against all of them. Her tomboy garb and make-up-free face suggest she’s dealing with something much darker.
Rue’s oversized heavy-gauge burgundy hoodie is one of the first clues that clothing plays a big part in the show’s narrative arcs. It’s a simple piece with a tragic backstory, an heirloom that belonged to her late father, retrieved from the end of the bed when he died. It lives on as the rock her wardrobe is built around, like a security blanket that keeps him close to her.
“Fez’s talismans are two gold Cuban chains, which have hung around his neck since he was a kid. He’s a modern-day Tony Montana”
For the male characters, the clothes are more about blending in. The go-to is a uniform of athletic sweats and teal-toned football jerseys, worn with checked overshirts, simple T-shirts and crisp Calvin Klein boxers. No wonder, then, that the wardrobe of Fezco, a high-school dropout turned drug dealer and the unlikely moral compass of the show, has such an impact. His dress sense transports viewers back to the 1990s and hip-hop’s golden era. Oversized polo shirts, Coogi knits, tracksuits, baggy trousers and Nike Air Max CB 94s are on constant rotation.
Fez’s talismans are two gold Cuban chains, which have hung around his neck since he was a kid riding shotgun with his beloved Grandma “Motherfucking G” Kitty. A framed Scarface poster on the wall of his home reinforces Nate’s barbed comment that he’s a modern-day Tony Montana. The soundtrack features Wu-Tang Clan, Tupac and The Notorious BIG, style icons who have clearly influenced the way Fez and his adopted little brother, Ashtray, dress.
Mr Angus Cloud as Fez in Euphoria,season 1, episode 3, 2019. Photograph by Mr Eddy Chen, courtesy of HBO
Fez and Rue have a strong bond. Yes, he supplies her with opioids, but he is also her confidant. He considers her family, someone he would go to war for. Thanks to his loveable nature and big heart, Fez has become a firm favourite with viewers. On the show, he pulls various teens into his orbit, both for friendship as well as recreational drugs.
In the first episode of this difficult second season, we saw a shift in power within the male cast. At a New Year’s Eve house party, Fez is more open than he’s ever been, lounging on a retro sectional sofa, chewing the fat with fellow underdog, Lexi. As the clock ticks towards midnight and Fez removes his forest-green, cable-knit Palace sweater, you know something is about to go down. This is a guy who clearly pays close attention to his appearance and takes care of his clothes. Against a raucous backdrop, Fez appears almost serene in a gleaming white, T-shirt, which is soon splattered with blood.
“As the clock edges towards midnight and Fez removes his forest-green, cable-knit Palace sweater, you know something is about to go down”
Euphoria is a show where seemingly nothing is taboo and sexuality and gender are free to the point of being unremarkable. The wardrobe, too, is often genderless. Contemporary streetwear labels such as Aries, Sci-Fi Fantasy, Online Ceramics, iggy and POLITE WORLDWIDE® are ubiquitous across the board. Rue and Jules effortlessly blend these brands into disparate outfits that span everything from NA-meet anonymity to space-age manic dream pixie girl. These are designers that aim to court this generation’s non-conformists and hit the spaces between, where the rest of us live.
While portraying the present and perhaps glimpsing the future in all its LGBTQIA+ glory, Euphoria is rooted in the past. Whether that’s the behavioural loops we’re all stuck in or the music and clothes we turn to, history keeps on repeating itself. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be, but that doesn’t stop us looking for our next fix.
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