on Curating Storytelling Looks for Season 5 of 'The Chi' on Showtime
The industry veteran speaks on leveraging her
creative craft
for ‘The Chi’ as well as her artistic influences that have shaped her approach.
No stranger to breaking down barriers and challenging the status quo, wardrobe stylist Mercedes Cook has perfected her craft, cultivated a strong network of creatives and solidified herself as one of the few leading African-American costume designers in television and film. Throughout her 15-year long career, Cook has paid homage to her dynamic upbringing in Philadelphia, her undergrad education in New York City as well as her various visits to cultural hubs across the country, such as Atlanta and New Orleans. Taking bits and pieces of each location and ingraining them into her creative process, Cook has been able to conceive and style outfits that speak to her experiences and evolution as an artist.
Supplemented by the essence and gritty energy of her East Coast hometown, Cook’s artistic approach has shifted and been shaped by the lessons learned as well as career and life-defining opportunities presented to her over the years. Her time in the fashion capital of the country as a fashion design student further exposed her eager eyes to the vast international market residing in New York City along with the need-to-know brands, designers and eye-catching trends reshaping the industry. While Cook was passionate about her undergraduate studies, her curiosity was piqued by the intricate layers that make up costume design. Reminiscing on her upbringing and the memories that marked her childhood, Cook recalled the coming-of-age movie, My Girl, and the highly curated and unforgettable looks that set the tone for the 1991 film and helped her realize her calling was more aligned with costume design.
Diving head first into the field, Cook’s dedication and commitment to costume design has captured the attention of industry giants in the television and film space, allowing her to lend her unparalleled skills to popular and culturally significant TV shows. Continuing to attract the masses with her styling expertise, Cook’s work will once again be highlighted and celebrated on the silver screen as the costume designer was tapped by fellow boundary breaker and creator of The Chi, Lena Waithe, to dress and style the characters for season five of the hit Showtime series. In speaking with Cook about the opportunity, the stylist delved into the nitty gritty of styling the cast and how it’s a collaborative effort as well as her own unique trajectory as a wardrobe stylist.
Keep reading below
for the full scoop on Mercedes.
Lena Waithe and The Chi have been intentional about highlighting creatives that speak out and have positive impacts on their audiences. What does it mean to you to be a part of “The Chi” and for your art to be shown to the audience?
I’m so grateful to be a part of The Chi. I’m African-American and [The Chi] highlights the African-American urban experience. I’m from Philadelphia which is such a similar city to [Chicago] and when I go there I feel like I’m home. [African-Americans] don’t always get to tell our stories, we don’t always get to be seen, humanized and developed in a way that people can understand our joy, our pain, our fears and our struggles.
So, just to be a part of something like that where you can understand why a person is the way they are, where they come from or what they struggle with from the Black perspective is an amazing opportunity to show my art. It’s one that I’m extremely grateful for and to be able to tell stories through clothing is significant because we haven’t always been able to do that. A lot of costume designers who did our storytelling through clothing are of other races, and not that they didn’t do a great job, but it’s different, it’s not as authentic. So, to be here is both overwhelming and humbling and ultimately I’m just grateful.
To be here is both overwhelming and humbling and ultimately
What was the process of designing and styling the looks for the characters on The Chi like? Do you approach it differently depending on each character and was it challenging?
It’s about styling characters from a
psychological standpoint
I approach each character differently and just from an authentic perspective. I think of the character Darnell, I have an uncle who is just like Darnell so, it’s very much about pulling inspiration from my personal life and style as well as Chicago culture. Each neighborhood in Chicago has a signature style and identity and if you’re from the city, you’ll know if they're either from the West side or South side, for instance.
What motivated you to start designing and styling on set and in TV & Film?
The curiosity of TV & Film and the fact that you can travel all around the country for it and meet people as well as make something more tangible than a runway show really appealed to me. I think about some of my favorite movies when I was kid, like Crooklyn. I loved Crooklyn, it was so influential to my life and essence growing up as well as Eve’s Bayou. So, from that perspective I want to create something or be a part of something that people will remember or that they’ll say changed their life in a certain way. Clothing is great and it’s representative of how you feel at the moment but in film it’s something that you keep in mind forever.
How has Philadelphia culture influenced the way you design and style looks and how would you say living in places like NYC and Atlanta as well has shifted the way you approach your creativity if it has?
I always pick up a little bit of perspective that
People don’t often tap into the fact that Philly being right outside of New York makes us competitive. We may not be New York but we’re going to show you that we can do this. So, a lot of Philadelphians love fashion and they just want to go at it harder than New Yorkers to prove that we are on it so that’s where my Philadelphia style comes from.
It’s all about finding what’s cool, what’s new and what’s fun. Moving to New York, it’s more of an international market because the world of fashion is there so you’re finding out about things on an even bigger scale. Then when you go to Atlanta, you’ll see this very different, curated African-American style in a city where hip-hop culture is so big. The women dress differently there and a lot of strippers influence style. Traveling to New Orleans also influenced me because when I went, there was so much color and culture in the way that they dress. Wherever I’ve lived – and I can name 20 places – I always pick up a little bit of perspective that changes my lens.
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Looking at characters like Jada – who just had an emotional battle with cancer – I tried to incorporate some natural stones and organic fabrics into her looks for an earthy feel. Tiff on the other hand, is all about being a “Hot Girl” and wants to wear anything that’s cool, new and calls attention to her body and celebrates her curves. It’s about styling characters from a psychological standpoint, like where they are mentally, as well as including personal elements of the city they’re from.
In terms of challenges, I wouldn’t say one character is more challenging than the other. However, when a character is new, that’s the most challenging part and that’s when I like to collaborate with the actors because they’re living in the skin of the person I’m about to create through clothing. So, each fitting I like to get the actor’s opinions on things, they’ll let me know “oh I wouldn’t do this” or “I’m going to put my hand in my pocket so I need something that feels like this or that,” so that’s helpful.
changes my lens
How do you hope to impact people with your art and what do you want them to take away from your creations?
I hope to influence people who look like me with my creations. Representation is everything and everyone knows that now. However, I also want people who don’t look like me, people who feel a little different to explore these differences. I can also speak to when I was a kid and was obsessed with Greek mythology and history. As a little African-American girl you’re supposed to double dutch and braid. I never learned how to jump rope and I just learned how to do cornrows. [African-American] women are not a monolith; there’s so many types of African-American women and we’re into so many different things and I want people to know that. I want people to look at us and try to figure out what we’re about, figure out where we can create and be influential in their creative process, from film to fashion.
and everyone knows that now
Representation is everything
It’s starting to become more common to see African-American costume designers like me but I still walk into rooms sometimes and I’ll be asked “where’s your boss” since people don’t assume that I could be in a leadership position. With my counterparts, people just assume that [they’re in a leadership position] but I have to prove myself. I hope that’s the number one thing I can leave an impact on.
How do you see your career taking shape in the future? What do you hope to accomplish?
Since I’m obsessed with Greek mythology and history, I would love to work on a big historical piece. One of my favorite movies as a kid was the Ten Commandments, that I used to watch with my grandparents. I would see the crowds of background talent and actors dressed in the ancient costumes and just stare at them in amazement so I would love to work on something as culturally shifting that leaves a mark like that.
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