Ugly on purpose? Emily in Paris reveals Season 4 release dates and how her stylist has a ‘taste for ugliness’.

Emily in Paris has finally revealed the much-anticipated dates for the Netflix release of Season 4 of the show. The release will happen in two parts: the first part is scheduled to release on August 15 while the second will premiere on September 12 of this year; each part will air five-part episodes. In the excitement or dread of the new season, we thought it would be apropos to dissect Emily’s worst outfits and the philosophy behind her consistent defence of garish patterns. Let’s begin.

Emily in Paris has captivated GenZ fashionistas with its polarising appeal. Love it or hate it, her garish, ironically ringarde outfits spark debate: are they a fresh take or an Americanised twist on French fashion gone wrong? The most supportive opinion online in defence of her outfits seems to be that, ‘people don’t understand that this was intentionally done this way to fit into her American, cute but French-wannabe stereotype’.

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Critics claim that Emily’s style reeks of a lack of research, indomitable belief in the Americanized version of high fashion, and the irresistible need to stand out as the ‘low effort, stylish girl’. It seems to be a poor imitation of the effortless elegance embodied by the French — but here’s the thing, they are right and everything tacky is tacky on purpose!

The team of designers behind the show have notably worked on a lot of fashion masterpieces, Sex and The City being one of them. In an interview with CNC, renowned costume designer Marylin Fitoussi shed some light on the process behind the fashion. “I like to work with vintage, I like what is excessive and noticeable – this is also why I have a preference for period costumes,” she said. “Fashion is aimed at clients while costumes are about building characters so they can be identified at a glance, and without extrapolating. We are not fashion designers but costume designers!”

With what can only be termed as a ‘taste for ugliness’, the designer is aware of the fact that some of the outfits are more garish than Parisian chic. She said, “We didn’t want to make her a young American in her jeans and sneakers, nor the Parisian woman’s archetype in a trench coat and white T-shirt. The only guideline we had – which actually applies to all seasons of the show – is that boring is irrelevant.”

The entire plot of Season 1, from the trash fashion show to Pierre Cadault’s acceptance of the new generation’s appeal toward tacky, bold themes seems, in hindsight, ironically pointed towards the appeal of the ugly; so while they might be exaggerated, Emily’s horrendous outfits were definitely intentional. When asked about plans for the Season 4 fashion ensembles, Fitoussi said, “For Season 4, I dream of recycling the costumes from Season 1 by transforming them!”

Details about Season 4

The new season will still have the basic cast we are used to with Emily, Camille, Gabriel and Sylvie taking centre stage. A few notable new characters on the show will be: Eugenio Franceschini as token hot-boy Marcello, Laurent’s 20-something daughter Genevieve, played by Thalia Besson, Anna Galiena as Antonia Murator who will play Marcello’s mother, and Raoul Bova as Giancarlo who used to be Sylvie’s film professor.

From left to right: Marcello, Antonia Murator, Genevieve and Giancarlo

The last episode of Season 3 ended on a cliffhanger; at Camille and Gabriel’s speed-wedding, she reveals that she had made a pact with Emily to not date Gabriel. Alfie breaks up with Emily after he realises that she is still in love with Gabriel. There was also the fact that Camille was pregnant, and seeing someone else besides the man she was engaged to.

In short, there were many loose ends that the show left untied with fans on the edge of their seats. Season 4 will hopefully answer all these questions including Mindy’s journey with Eurovision and her ex/bandmate Benoît.