The Costume Designer of Clueless Celebrates 30 Years of the Film's Iconic Fashion

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For legendary costume designer and author of The Fashion of Clueless, Mona May, her interest in fashion started at an early age. “I was one of those kids who drew as a little girl,” May said. “I was drawing princesses and many outfits.” Growing up, May lived in many different countries, which had a lasting impact on her. “I think that had a lot of big influence on me. How I kind of process things,” May said. “In the first years of my life, I got to see saris and the beautiful colors, and I really, really loved that.”

On the latest episode of The Who What Wear Podcast, May shares how she got her start in Los Angeles, what it was like working on Clueless, and more. For excerpts from their conversation, keep scrolling.

I would love to hear a little bit about how you ended up doing costume design and if that was something that you always wanted to do.

I was one of those kids who drew as a little girl. I was drawing princesses and many outfits. As a kid, I grew up in different countries. I was actually born in India, and I lived there until I was three, and then I moved to Poland, and then Germany. I was always kind of surrounded by different cultures.

I think that had a lot of influence on me. How I kind of process things. In the first years of my life, I got to see saris and the beautiful colors, and I really, really loved that. That influence of early childhood, I think, had a really big mark on me.

I was the kid who was drawing, and luckily, my parents really supported it. I got to kind of do art as a kid, and I really wanted to be a fashion designer. That was kind of my dream. So that’s what I pursued. I went to school in Europe and Paris, Milan, and London.

Then I really set my eyes on the States. I kind of was very fascinated by different fashions here. New York was so different. California was so different. I ended up in New York and then California. I went to fashion school here in L.A.

While I was in school, I had friends at USC film school. At one point, they came up to me and said, “Hey, we’re doing this little film. It’s our thesis film. You have clothes, right?” I said, “Sure. Yeah, absolutely. I have clothes. What do you need?” From that moment, I was hooked. It was so interesting to me to actually create characters, personas, to dive into people’s psychology, who they are. It was so much more than fashion.

It’s really cool that that ended up being your path. Obviously, Clueless was a big moment for you.

It was a dream come true in a sense, because it was fashion and film. When Amy wrote the script, we actually met on a different project on the pilot, and we just connected creatively. She was like my creative soulmate, truly. When she wrote Clueless, she called me up. She’s like, “This is the job for you. It has all the elements. It has the colors. I want it to be colorful. I want it to be fun. It has to be fashion-forward. You have to come up with fashion, new fashions that people are not wearing yet.”

So it really was like, “My god,” to work on something that connects two of my loves, you know?

Is it kind of crazy for you to kind of see that something that you guys did on the film now is kind of the way that people are dressing? How is that for you to see that reaction?

I mean, it’s insane. It’s truly insane. You can’t predict anything like this. The feeling is so incredible, because I am half kind of fashion designer in my heart, too. To be able to kind of set trends through the film in a way.

Think of the gym outfit for Cher. The white T-shirt with the black tank top on top. People didn’t wear that. Now you buy it together. You know what I mean? This is in everybody’s wardrobe.

When you watch the movie now—and I’ve seen so many screenings lately—the kids came dressed, and they all are just so still inspired by the fashions.

It’s generational, because you have the moms who watched the movie when they were 15 in the 90s who are now in their 40s, 50s, 60s. Now the young kids and that is so amazing to me, that the fashion kind of stood the test of time. That there is really still inspiration there.

I think that when you watch the film, the fashions are still very wearable. Very kind of current in some ways and timeless. That’s what I’m so proud of in a way. I think it’s something that I have as my point of view. I think that I inject that into all my movies. This kind of timelessness of the Sophia Loren of the ’50s and the Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The black dress.

Those pieces that you know that you can wear them and feel great. The peacoat, the beret. As I said, A-line skirt. Those things that just really are to go-to pieces and put in a way that I think translated over the years in a very well. In a feminine way.

Keep scrolling to buy Mona's book and shop some Clueless-inspired pieces.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.