Style

“Moxie” Exclusive: How the Film’s Wardrobe Contributed to the Story

From Hadley Robinson’s leather jacket to Josephine Langford’s tiger onesie.
By Aamina Inayat Khan
moxie
Moxie. Charlie Hall as Bradley, Sabrina Haskett as Kaitlynn, Nico Hiraga as Seth, Amy Poehler as Lisa/Director/Producer, Josephine Langford as Emma, Josie Totah as CJ, Hadley Robinson as Vivian, Sydney Park as Kiera, Anjelika Washington as Amaya, Alycia Pascual-Peña as Lucy, Lauren Tsai as Claudia in Moxie.Claudette Barius/NETFLIX © 2020

Moxie, Netflix’s latest teen movie, centers on Hadley Robinson's Vivian, a rebellious, young high school student who ignites campus-wide chaos when she publishes an anonymous zine rejecting the status quo. While Hadley's zine might be what sets the story in motion, the film also uses costume very strategically to convey its message. Netflix's new featurette, premiering exclusively on Teen Vogue, highlights just that.

Vivian's wardrobing, in particular, serves as a visual aid to her character arc, says the film’s costume designer, Kirston Mann. Vivian’s interactions with her mother’s old leather jacket throughout the movie message her emotional state to the audience. When she first comes across the jacket, Vivian wears it the way a young child wears their mother’s heels, uncomfortably and exaggeratedly. Kirson Mann uses the subtle shifts in wardrobing (hoodies, military green, leather) to elongate the difference in Vivian’s transformation, the leather jacket punctuating her bolder final form.

"The leather jacket is hugely symbolic,” Hadley recently shared with Teen Vogue's P. Claire Dodson. “It doesn't only represent her mother's past and passions, but I also think it is just a symbol of strength. It's almost like putting on armor. But I also think when she puts it on, she can really come into herself. And I think clothes have the ability to do that, when you put something on it makes you feel very you. And I liked that most make-over scenes in films with girls, usually they involve women taking things off and in this situation it's her putting something on and feeling more like herself. It's I think, yeah, that's an important moment to say, she's not changing who she is in this moment for a prom or for a date or to enhance a boy's opinion of her, but it's her own choice."

Watch the full featurette below to know more:

Let us slide into your DMs. Sign up for the Teen Vogue daily email.

Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: