Photo courtesy of Allyson Fanger
Allyson Fanger
A stylist to the stars: Allyson Fanger spends her days on set bringing TV and movie characters to life through wardrobe.
The name Allyson Fanger may not ring a bell, but some of the projects she has worked on likely do. Grace and Frankie, Shrinking, 80 for Brady, The Mighty Ducks, and 10 Things I Hate about You are just a few of the series and films on costume designer Fanger’s résumé. But how did a Minnetonka High School grad wind up dressing Jane Fonda and Harrison Ford?
The seasoned pro says she’s always been drawn to anthropology—and how apparel plays a significant role in every culture. “How we dress, that is storytelling—it’s what informs you and why and how we make the choices we do,” says Fanger. “Take Lake Minnetonka dwellers, for instance. I love how they have their own lake-culture-chic aesthetic that translates into how they dress.”
Growing up with two stylish parents, Fanger saw from an early age how visual mediums, like clothing, can be used to express individuality. Her foray into photo styling started in the ’90s, when she took jobs as a personal assistant (PA) for bigwigs in the local advertising, commercial, and movie industries as films like Untamed Heart made their way through Minneapolis. As side hustles, she waited tables at The Loon Cafe and the now-closed Pacific Club. Always immersed in the creative scene, Fanger hung in a circle of photographers, designers, artists, and people with a shared visual eye. After Fanger had worked on several sets as a PA, Gus Gustafson, an icon in the local photography scene, suggested she pursue wardrobe styling full time. “It was immediately obvious that this is what I should be doing,” says Fanger, who knew that if she wanted to make it big, she’d have to head west.
Now a Hollywood costume designer and five-time Emmy Award nominee, Fanger taps her cultural anthropology passion and degree from the University of Colorado Boulder as she approaches every character she styles. For Grace and Frankie stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, Fanger builds wardrobes that, without any dialogue, tell clear stories of two very different women—one in crisp tailoring and the other in free-spirited frocks. “You know, I just dig into the characters and who they are as people,” says Fanger. “Then the clothing can do all the talking.”
Fanger attributes a lot of her success to her Minnesota work ethic. “There’s an unspoken respect for midwesterners, specifically Minnesotans, in the Hollywood film scene,” she says. “We just get shit done while maintaining humility—we’re a rare breed.”
When asked about her personal favorite brands and lines, it’s no surprise that a clotheshorse like Fanger is hard-pressed for a definite answer. A few standouts at the moment are Clare V. (a St. Paul–born accessories designer whose pieces frequently pop up in Shrinking), Parker Thatch, La DoubleJ, Gabriela Hearst, Buck Mason, Ciao Lucia, and Nili Lotan.
As for Fanger’s current project? She’s taking up residence in Australia’s Gold Coast, working on Apples Never Fall, a limited series based on the Liane Moriarty New York Times bestseller, hitting NBC’s Peacock later this year.
