With every season, The White Lotus’ fashion moments are studied in greater detail. Since its pilot episode in 2021, the show’s audience has grown immensely, with last week’s ‘incest episode’ setting the record for its highest ratings yet, amassing 4.2 million viewers.
With increasing popularity comes bigger budgets, more creative freedom, and more brands desperately hoping to sneak their products onto set. Season three’s costumes are flashier than ever. From Bottega to Cartier, Valentino to Louis Vuitton, there are familiar logos to be spotted in every episode. Then again, these characters are staying at a hotel that costs tens of thousands a night, so designer garb is to be expected.
English costume designer Alex Bovaird earned two of her three Emmy nominations for the show’s first two seasons, but was able to go bigger, bolder, and have more fun than ever before on season three. She worked closely with Jacquemus on custom looks, curated her dream handbag collection, and made sure to leave a few Easter eggs in there too (just like she did in season two). Intrigued? We’ll let her explain.
Season three of The White Lotus is currently streaming, what was your first reaction when you found out the location and cast?
Alex Bovaird: I’d heard they were very keen on Japan, and then I heard they’d decided to go to Thailand. I was really excited. I started watching Below Deck Thailand and I was horrified by how hot it was. Their polo shirts were a completely different colour, drenched in sweat. From a practical point of view, I was horrified, but from a creative standpoint I was very excited. I’m very familiar with that brand of traveller hedonism, because I was a traveller hedonist.
Most of the actors are cast right before we start shooting. There was one guy who was attached early on and then he didn’t do it in the end. The casting process comes a lot later, after I’ve read the scripts. Parker Posey was one of the first people cast. We knew that Natasha Rothwell was returning, and we knew that Greg/Gary was returning – but that was a secret. No one really knew until he turned up on set.
How are this season’s clothes different from the first two?
Alex Bovaird: Well Mike White announced in the press that this season was going to be bigger and better – he used a lot of superlatives – so I took that maximalist approach to the costumes. A lot of people contacted me about getting their brand on the show. We got a lot of attention after season two, it allowed me to use designer bags and expensive jewellery. We had a safe full of ridiculously expensive pieces. Lots of Valentino and Bottega.
How did you end up working with Jacquemus?
Alex Bovaird: He DM’d me on Instagram. After season two, he said he loved what I did and that he would do anything we wanted for the next season. We started talking about doing a capsule and ended up creating a whole closet. It was super fun. I sent him my lookbooks for the show and then I met with the design team, it was pretty quick. The Jacquemus aesthetic is so perfect. They nailed it, but you can’t force something like that, it has to be right for the moment. If the actress hadn’t been into it, there’s nothing I can do about that.
What made Jacquemus the right fit for Chloe’s character?
Alex Bovaird: Well she’s French-Canadian, so even though she’s not French, she talks about being in Saint Tropez as a model, so she had that Mediterranean vibe. I really wanted to use Jacquemus in season two, but it just didn’t work out. It’s a perfect White Lotus brand.
How and why did you choose specific handbags for certain characters?
Alex Bovaird: I have a bit of a bag fetish so we had this huge table full of bags. Victoria’s Gucci and little Louis Vuitton barrel bag, we knew they’d have to open and close a lot as she took her lorazepam, so we had to find the perfect little chic bag. Something classic – and also because the Gucci bamboo has a crossbody version.
What about Chelsea’s bags?
Alex Bovaird: Both of Chelsea’s bags are JW Anderson. They matched her eclectic market vibe. So, as opposed to actually getting it from a flea market, it’s JW Anderson instead. I always saw Chelsea as having a 90s Ibiza sort of style – the Loewe x Paula’s Ibiza collection was a big draw for me.
So we’re not meant to know that the bags are JW Anderson? We’re supposed to think they’re from a market instead?
Alex Bovaird: I think it’s fine either way. Even though Chelsea isn’t as rich as everyone else, she’s still staying at this hotel. It’s a bit of both.
What about Jaclyn’s Erewhon tote bag?
Alex Bovaird: That was actually Michelle Monaghan’s idea. We just thought it would be really funny if she had an Erewhon tote bag. She suggested it to us but we didn’t know if we could get hold of one, then she was going home to LA, so we said if she wanted to buy one and bring it, then sure!
Does that happen a lot, actors coming up with costume ideas for their characters?
Alex Bovaird: Yeah, it depends on the person. Often it’s very collaborative. They might say they really like something and then we’d try to get it for them. Obviously the Erewhon tote bag, and then Parker Posey brought some things with her that belonged to her mum – her watch and her ring. She had strong ideas because she’s from the South. And Aimee [Lou Wood] had a bedtime slip that was her own.
What’s the most expensive item worn by anyone this season?
Alex Bovaird: Garment-wise, it’s probably Jaclyn’s Valentino dress. Or she wears an Hermès kaftan that was really expensive that we haven’t seen yet. Sritala, the hotel owner, wears very, very expensive jewellery, especially when it’s all worn at once. Her watch is from Jacob & Co, which is hundreds of thousands of dollars. Parker Posey has expensive jewellery, too.
How about the cheapest item?
Alex Bovaird: The things that belong to me, they cost zero dollars. When Laurie is carrying her Giambattista Valli bag, she’s actually wearing a jumpsuit of mine. So the bag was really expensive, but the jumpsuit was zero dollars. That’s very Laurie, she’s more down to earth than the other two. One of Pornchai’s shirts is from Gravesend, from a charity shop. That was probably £2.
There’s been some speculation that Belinda’s outfits might hold clues to the season’s outcome. Should we be looking more closely at what she’s wearing?
Alex Bovaird: I could not possibly say. I plead the fifth.
Do you use costume design to plant Easter eggs?
Alex Bovaird: Yeah. There are some Easter eggs in there. But no one’s figured it out yet. Maybe I’ll talk about it after the finale. We did that in season two. We put Tanya’s death dress on a mannequin when they go on the Godfather tour – there’s a dead Apollonian dummy wearing Tanya’s dress before she wears it. That was a little foreshadowing. There is some foreshadowing this season. I’ve seen lots of red herrings online, though.
It feels like the fashion gets more and more attention each season. Does this add pressure to the way you work?
Alex Bovaird: Yes, it does. It opens up more opportunities – especially when it comes to borrowing from brands – but I feel like, for the cast, they’re starting to get more conscious of the wardrobe. You know on Love Island, how in the first few seasons they don’t know they’ll come out and have a million followers, but by season five it becomes a bit more contrived. On The White Lotus, I noticed that this season people were really into what they were going to wear. I fear that it will become more distracting in a way.
On recent catwalks, we’ve seen a move away from quiet luxury and a move towards loud, decadent fashion. Is The White Lotus reflective of this?
Alex Bovaird: I think so. Being loud and chaotic is the underbelly of the show. Mike White wants a feast for the eyes and that matches my ethos of how to do these characters. I’m drawn to vivid prints and shine and glitter. Aubrey Plaza used to say, ‘Is this too much?’ but we’d tell her that nothing is too much for The White Lotus. That’s our catchphrase.
I would go to the UK for season four. We have so many fun, eccentric, old-money people… but Mike White doesn’t really like the rain
What would you wear to The White Lotus?
Alex Bovaird: I’d make a grand entrance in Chanel and some vintage boots. I’d have an Hermès bag and blue hair, like how Kristen Stewart was rocking Chanel for a while.
If it were up to you, where would you want season four’s location to be?
Alex Bovaird: I would go to the UK. We have so many fun, eccentric, old-money people. And so many characters. We’ve got gangsters, aristocrats, we could do it at a castle. We could go to Gleneagles or go to Cornwall and do an Agatha Christie thing. But Mike White doesn’t really like the rain.
What brands would you turn to for a UK season?
Alex Bovaird: The men would be Savile Row and Jermyn street. My big goal is to do a James Bond movie, so I’d go for that luxe classic look. I’d go to Annie’s Ibiza on Carnaby Street and you wouldn’t get me out of Liberty. Then there’s all the markets. Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, JW Anderson.
Maybe a Burberry trench or two?
Alex Bovaird: Oh Burberry! Yes exactly. All that fun country attire.
The White Lotus is streaming now
