Hacks Costume Designer on Ava's Wardrobe Mirroring
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- Kathleen Felix-Hager, costume designer for "Hacks," explained during IndieWire's Craft Roundtables that Ava Daniels' wardrobe was consciously evolved season over season to reflect the character's aging from her early twenties to 30
- Ava Daniels begins the series with an "almost juvenile aspect" to her wardrobe when she arrives in L.A. in her early twenties
- By Season 5, Ava's wardrobe shifts to more sophisticated, grown-up "investment pieces" because the character is "making money," Felix-Hager said, though her "basic vibe" stays the same
- Felix-Hager said the design team intentionally mirrored Hannah Einbinder's real life within the character of Ava because the two shared a similar trajectory of growing up in the entertainment industry
- Einbinder was also in her early twenties when "Hacks" was "like her show" and "wasn't that confident, it was all new," echoing Ava's onscreen arc, according to Felix-Hager
- The series follows Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and Ava from a road trip through America's smallest clubs to a "lucrative career comeback"
Why it matters: Felix-Hager's design choices — tracking Ava's wardrobe from juvenile early-twenties pieces to investment-grade Season 5 sophistication across five seasons — show how a costume designer can use clothing as a biographical parallel to the actress rather than just the character, a craft choice now discussed on IndieWire's Craft Roundtables streaming on the PBS App.
