Michael Fisher has worked with clients Kieran Culkin, Oscar Isaac, Jake Gyllenhaal and Benedict Cumberbatch during their respective tenures. Saturday Night Live during the 2021-22 season, and each time, the star designer really wanted to meet a cast member of the long-running series: Bowen Yang, nominated at Monday night’s Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
“I admit, I was a fan-girl on the side of the stage [at 30 Rock] every time,” says Fisher The Hollywood Reporter exclusively. “He’s very talented and you can tell he likes to have fun with fashion.” Fisher eventually sent a direct message to Yang via his Instagram account earlier this year, noting that he would like to work with the actor while he was doing press for The island of fire, the quirky romantic comedy Hulu released in June. That did the trick, and Yang’s appearance at the 2022 Emmy Awards is the latest in that recently formed alliance.
When Yang’s name was among the Emmy nominations announced in mid-July, he and Fisher began a discussion about his look for the event almost immediately. “He sent some ideas he was thinking about, and I did the same,” says Fisher. “I love having his rack arranged with a range of options from the most avant-garde to the most classic – the latter with a twist, of course. We always seem to be in the middle.”
At Monday’s 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, Yang wore a blue-and-black tuxedo from Milan-based Etro, consisting of a semi-tailored wool and silk jacket heavily embroidered with a decorative floral pattern and mythological animals, accompanied by trousers in the same. jacquard fabric, no embroidery.
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A white tuxedo shirt with a fitted sheet from Swedish brand Eton and a navy satin bow tie complete the outfit. “The shirt is almost a soft tea-stained buttery yellow, which I love because it brings out the embroidery,” notes Fisher. “I also really like a fitted sheet because I hate seeing buttons in a tuxedo look.”
Courtesy of Michael Fisher
Black patent tuxedo shoes by Christian Louboutin — “a style with a little more attitude than a typical tuxedo shoe,” adds Fisher — are also confirmed, while as of Sunday night, decisions were still being made on jewelry and Yang’s watch. “I know we’re not doing a brooch, just because it’s too much with the jacket embroidery,” says Fisher. “Bowen wears jewelry every day and loves jade and onyx pieces. There will be an earring, then we are thinking about many brilliant diamond rings from Or & Elle and Anne Sisteron. We like to leave the jewelry in the present day, because jewelry should always be a reflection of your current feelings.” The pair had also narrowed down their watch choices to two, both from Vacheron Constantin.
Courtesy of Michael Fisher
Is the styling experience easier when a client is fashion-forward? “Adventurous is too small a word to describe Bowen,” says Fisher. “I can’t imagine what it takes to do his job and be the comedian and actor and writer that he is, and he wants his wardrobe to be as interesting and daring and fun as what you see on him. He loves young, fresh designers like Mr. Saturday and Zankov and [footwear designer] Syro, but also appreciates classics such as Etro, Brioni and Paul Smith. My job is to find those pieces that elevate her and the artist she is and make her feel like herself. The biggest challenge for me is not finding clothes that fit my body; it’s clothing that fits the personality and makes that personality shine.”
Even better, working with Yang has turned out to be everything Fisher hoped it could be when he was standing by for Saturday Night Live the evidence. “He’s been a dream client,” he adds.
