Executive Fashion Consultant Erica Pelosini Interview
Growing up in Florence, Italy, Erica Pelosini was influenced by her breathtaking surroundings. “I was lucky,” she smiles. “I grew up in a house full of frescoes, so I’ve always been very visual for art, for beauty. For me, everything has to look great.”
Fashion became a natural outlet for a young Pelosini, who got her start as a model. “A lot of people in my family went into fashion, and one of my aunts was a big, big model. She was a muse to Chanel,” she begins. After her grandmother got Pelosini into modeling, “I was so happy with clothing. I was saying to my mama, ‘I want to be a designer when I grow up or work for a magazine.’ We always had Vogue magazine at home so, literally, I was reading Vogue since I was 6 years old. When I was 13, I did a show for Armani and I was like, ‘Oh, what I really want is to be the one in charge and not wear the clothes, but actually to tell a story with the clothes.’ ”
After studying fashion in Florence, Milan and Paris, Pelosini and her husband, Louis Leeman, ultimately landed in Los Angeles, where they made their home base. “I have to say that’s my favorite city in the world. After living nine years in Paris, I came to L.A. for a job and I love it here. And now I’m bringing the fashion to the screen, which is fantastic. That is such a nice, new chapter of my life landed in Los Angeles, where they made their home base. “I have to say that’s my favorite city in the world. After living nine years in Paris, I came to L.A. for a job and I love it here. And now I’m bringing the fashion to the screen, which is fantastic. That is such a nice, new chapter of my life that I am enjoying very much.”
The City of Lights was never far from her mind, however. In 2020, she made an appearance in the Netflix series EMILY IN PARIS. “One of my very close friends, Darren Star, gave me a cameo on EMILY IN PARIS, where he wanted me working with Patricia Field [of SEX AND THE CITY fame]. He’s like, ‘You have the best eye. You have to dress yourself.’ So, I started seeing how Patricia Field worked and I got really inspired by that.”
Pelosini met Colleen Bell, wife of B&B’s Executive Producer/Head Writer Bradley Bell, which led to her current gig at the soap. “We became very good friends and we were thinking about how nice it would be to bring my fashion and expertise to BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL, being a show about fashion,” Pelosini relays. “To be honest, I was like, ‘Oh, my God. I grew up with that show, my grandmother was watching.’ It’s such an institution, such an iconic show that it was like, ‘Oh, that could be such a fun experience.’ And I must say, it’s also been challenging because I used to work mostly for magazines and with the models, so you only have to showcase the clothing, where here, it’s all about the characters and you have to emphasize who they are.”
Pelosini works closely with Costume Designer Glenda Maddox, who has taught her a lot about on-camera execution. “She’s amazing,” raves Pelosini. “I love, love, love my team there. From the beginning I was like, ‘Oh, this is such a great experience for me, to understand about costume design,’ because I’ve never done that. I’ve been learning from her how things can look on camera, because maybe the prints are too loud or some material can create some sounds that they’re not supposed to, or how we need to work with a color palette so people look good together but they’re not matching. So, many important things and we are having really great fun. I think she’s having fun with me, maybe meeting some designers, coming to some showrooms, and me learning these things from her, it’s been a really great collaboration.”
Here, Pelosini breaks down her vision for some of B&B’s faves.
Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) “So Brooke, I love dressing her. She’s such a fabulous woman. First of all, she looks amazing in everything. I love seeing her in power suits. We’ve been using a lot of Tom Ford power suits; they fit her really nice. We’ve also been using a lot of Chanel jackets. If she wears a Chanel jacket, maybe I’ll put her with some really skinny pants or a short skirt. She always likes high heels, the higher the better. She loves her Saint Laurent heels a lot.”
Paris (Diamond White) “She is the most rock and roll. I have so much fun dressing her, as well. She can wear sweatpants or a miniskirt, but with a flair. I like to dress her more [in] a younger brand like Moschino, or cool sweats, but maybe mixed with, like, a cool leather Burberry jacket. And she dresses a lot in Balenciaga. She also likes Dr. Martens boots. So if she has the skirt and the boots, maybe she’s wearing Chanel but it’s a fanny pack or a backpack.”
Liam (Scott Clifton) “Liam likes to be the guy next door. Super- simple. If I show him a denim jacket, he is the happiest person. So, I dress him a lot in RRL, the Ralph Lauren vintage brand. He loves it. But sometimes, also some Topshop or H&M. Very easy but mix and match, sometimes some Brunello Cucinelli, as well, for his work look.”
Shauna (Denise Richards) “Shauna, she’s gorgeous. I like her a lot. She likes color and I like to make her a little bit, like, spicy with colors. She loves a lot of denim from RE/DONE. We do a lot of RE/DONE denim and T-shirts, but with high heels and a colorful Chanel jacket or a fun blazer, or Balmain with a fun bag.”
Zende (Delon de Metz) “He loves to be proper, dressed up. He loves a beautiful suit. I like him a lot in Celine suits. We’ve been getting a lot of Dries Van Noten, and Suitsupply. I like to see him with no socks and a cool slipper, so you see a little bit of skin and maybe the pant a little bit high. I love to see him with a printed shirt, so we play around with some totally vintage no brand, or Celine, Burberry and Gucci. Something a little bit more fun that is unexpected under a beautiful, chic suit.”
Hope (Annika Noelle) “She is the most Boho. Very girly, but also a little bit more casual girly. I like her a lot in, like, Chloé or LoveShackFancy. She does a lot of H&M pieces, like an easy, flowy, white dress. She’s been wearing a lot of these really cool Burberry boots. She loves boots with fringe. We’ve been using Paris Texas.”
Flo (Katrina Bowden) “Flo is super-girly. I always put her in a very cute cardigan, a colorful short crop and a little skirt, or a cute, colorful dress, with maybe high boots. She’s been wearing a lot of LoveShackFancy and some Gucci pieces, but also some vintage denim. She has a young and sexy vibe, so she can wear a skirt with Converse sneakers to make her more young and fun.”
Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) “We’ve been hiding her pregnancy for a long time, and you couldn’t even tell in the beginning. I dress her in Balmain. We have a lot of beautiful Balmain blazers and Balmain dresses. She loves Maje. She’s been doing a lot of fun suits, miniskirt suits or dress suits, or a Balmain or denim onesie. She’s been rocking Christian Dior, as well. She rocked the high heels till the last day. She always loves the high heels.”
Thomas (Matthew Atkinson) “Thomas is fashionable but he also loves bomber jackets, so he’s been wearing a lot of Burberry bomber jackets. He’s been wearing more suit pants, but with a T-shirt and bomber jacket, so it’s a mix. He’s at work, but he’s also a little bit cool.”
Finn (Tanner Novlan) “He has a model-like body and he is very skinny, so he looks really cool in Topshop. I dress him in very skinny jeans with boots. He’s been doing a lot of Thom Browne and Zadig & Voltaire, a lot of these brands that are more French, or even some Yves Saint Laurent that are slim fit. He likes darker colors so we always do him in dark blue, dark black.”
Donna (Jennifer Gareis) “So, with Donna, they told me, ‘She has to be very sexy, almost too much; over the top but still looking great.’ We have a lot of Alaïa that embraces her curves. She likes platforms, so I’ve been using some Gucci platforms. They’re more fun. She loves color. We’ve been using colors that work really well on her.”
Zoe (Kiara Barnes) “She’s another one who’s very fun. I like to dress her a little bit fun and fashionable, so I dress her a lot in Gucci. She does some Saint Laurent, Miu Miu, Fendi. Very fashionable brands. But again, I mix and match. Sometimes, she’s wear- ing some Zara pieces with some Gucci accessories, so it’s high/ low.”