Emily in Paris stars Lily Collins and Ashley Park talk Season 4, friendship and fashion

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One of the summer’s most anticipated shows is finally here: Emily in Paris Season 4: Part 1 has dropped on Netflix with five episodes, while Part 2 arrives on Sept 12 with the remaining five episodes of the season.

Lily Collins returns as Emily, with her love life as complicated as ever – last season ended with Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) revealing that Camille (Camille Razat) is pregnant with his child. In the new season, Emily is learning to accept this news while also dealing with her work life, and sharing all the gossip with her BFF Mindy (Ashley Park).

Alongside the romance, female friendships have always been at the forefront of the Netflix comedy, and it’s clear that Collins and Park are not just best friends on-screen – the last five years working together has meant that their friendship has grown off-screen as well. Over Zoom, their friendship is palpable as they laugh and complete each other’s sentences.

When it comes to the fashion, the actors can’t help but be influenced by the trends and designers that they get to sport on the show. Both Collins and Park are into the oversized trend. While Collins loves an oversized pant paired with a blazer over sneakers, Park loves an oversized T-shirt (that she steals from her on-screen and off-screen boyfriend Paul Forman, who plays Nicolas on the show).

The two were ready for their packed press day, in style, of course. Collins wore a Micro Bouclette Blazer Jacket over wide-leg jeans, both by French brand Chloe. For her look, Park wore a reworked Balmain dress with ’80s vintage button embellishment.

We spoke with Collins and Park about season four, their friendship, and the gorgeous fashion on display.

How would you describe Season 4 in three words?

Lily Collins (LC): Vulnerable, adventurous, hilarious.

Ashley Park (AP): Now on Netflix.

When it comes to scene partners, your on-screen friendship has translated off-screen as well. What were your first impressions of each other five years ago, and how has that changed now? LC: I don’t think my opinion of Ashley has changed. It’s just deepened. It’s never changed.

AP: I love that. Me too.

LC: Like literally, I turned around and saw you and we just connected. It was obviously a surface connection in terms of what it is now, but it went so deep without even knowing it was immediate. It was such a feeling. And I think that was a real magical, crazy moment to think about, because there are photos of that.

AP: Yeah, and our director and producer, Andy Fleming, I think it was his husband who saw the moment, and he was like, it looked like two magnets. I love that, though. I do think that the best friendships, it’s not so much that they change, but they deepen.

There’s an episode featuring Augustinus Bader that talks about stepping outside of your comfort zone and embracing the gray areas of life. When was the last time you stepped outside your comfort zone? LC: I’m doing a play in the fall in London that is very much stepping outside of my comfort zone. I’m so excited about it. It’s a childhood dream, and I think it’s something that I should be excited and equally nervous about which I am. I’m just ready to step into it and see and see what happens. I’m so psyched for it.

AP: Probably in terms of my health and where I started the year [Editor’s note: Park developed sepsis in January 2024 after a severe case of tonsillitis]. My perspectives and priorities had to shift, in a sense, and really being okay with what am I saying no to, what am I saying yes to? Am I really resting and being there for myself? And I don’t know if that’s quite gray, but it was very black and white for me before, and so I’m calling it gray now.

Fashion is such a huge part of the show, like a character itself. Who are some designers or brands you love that you get to wear this season? LC: Harris Reed designed my black and white ball gown for the masquerade ball. I remember the second that I knew that there was going to be this huge event in the episode, I went straight to Harris. Well, I went to our costume designer Marylin [Fitoussi], and said, “I have this idea” and then I went to Harris and they were so excited. The whole team, they were amazing, and helped create this fantastic outfit that, to me, is the most bold Emily’s been because it’s so whimsical, but so sexy and so simple, yet so opulent.

AP: We are also so excited that Balmain gets to be a part of this season a lot and in a lot of different plot ways. What’s been really awesome is that Marylin, especially with us, we’ve been loving wearing uplifting, young and up and coming designers and really doing diligence. I know we have such long fittings but really going through and being like, “Oh, this makes sense for my character. This is the storytelling behind it.” But also like, what’s this young designer? Who are they? Like, she’s from where? He’s from where? And really being excited to kind of give these new brands a platform.

LC: She lets me bring in some ideas from Scandinavian and Danish designers and also jewelry designers that maybe people don’t know about that we can incorporate, or pieces from our wardrobe that were passed down generations. It’s a lot of mix and matches.

What are some up-and coming-designers you’d like to highlight for us?

AP: There’s a lot, but I think actually, we are just talking about this moment in the trailer where Mindy’s in pajamas in bed, and she’s getting excited for Emily. And I believe that it’s a sweat set or a T-shirt and pant set that I found out about from my dresser on the show. It’s by a local Parisian girl [who] makes these out of recycled materials. She only drops a couple of them every few months so that was fun.

LC: I’m very close with a designer in Denmark. Her name’s Stine Goya. I wouldn’t say she’s up-and-coming, she’s already very established there, but worldwide, I was like “I need to put some of her pieces in the show.” And this amazing young jewelry designer, Sarah Jin Mi, she’s a Danish designer, and she makes jewelry herself in her Atelier in Copenhagen.

AP: And some of my favorites [of] Mindy’s performance outfits have been designed by Jules, who’s the boyfriend of my hair stylist on the show. He has the most amazing brand that’s all these glitz and glam but amazing structured corsets.

If you could pick one defining look from this season, it would be… LC: I’m gonna say it’s when Emily puts her phone down and kind of embraces the vacation mode a little bit more.

AP: I would probably say it’s probably from the second drop of it, but a costume that I wear when they travel to another city. I think it really encapsulates Mindy’s vulnerability, and also her bravery in terms of what happens for her.

Emily in Paris Season 4, Part 1 is now streaming on Netflix. Part 2 premieres on September 12.