In ‘Succession’, Annabelle Dexter-Jones as Naomi Pierce does WASP styling with a twist

While a recent episode of Heir saw Kendall Roy surveying his guests’ fashion choices at his agonizing 40th birthday party — trying to force his brother Connor to take off his shaggy quilted jacket and call out “orthopedic” someone’s—an attendee quietly killed it in an all-black Proenza Schouler suit. It would be Naomi Pierce, the media heiress with anti-Roy family ties (and Kendall’s new girlfriend), whose modern, monochrome style has become a refreshing counterpoint to the outfit. Serious meeting rooms are in vogue at Waystar Royco. On the fashion side, season two goes to Siobhan Roy, with his flowing hair, smart turtleneck, and Dietrich-esque trousers. In season three, with all due respect to Shiv, HeirNaomi’s sublimation style icon.

Naomi’s biggest hits have a satisfying consistency. In an email, Heir costume designer Michelle Matland says that she chose a black and white color scheme for Naomi to bring out the “extremely focused and clear” nature of the character. In the first episode of the season, she rolls to Kendall’s war room with the costume Black Celine jacket with yellow buttons, black Feel Studio jeans and black high heel mules with butter beige ribbon. In the third part, she attends a gala dinner in Marina Moscone strapless top in black and white, black trousers, a thick necklace and bracelet. In season seven, “Too many birthdays”, directed by Loren Scafaria—Her echoes both look in a strapless black Proenza Schouler shirt with large gold buttons running down the front, a few of the bottoms undone to reveal part of the hem.

“Naomi is not precious,” actor Annabelle Dexter-Jones let me know via Zoom a few days before Thanksgiving, when I asked about the character’s preference for strapless tops and trousers. “It’s very elegant and feminine, but at the same time, it feels a bit more tomboyish than a cape.”

Despite the designers that have a name in Naomi’s wardrobe, Dexter-Jones doesn’t find her trendy or even heavily invested in the world of fashion. Naomi’s taste is towards the classic, but it’s very different from the preppy, preppy aesthetic embodied by the rest of the Pierce family. (Matriarch Nan Pierce, do Cherry Jones, with a headband, silk scarf, and crisp white shirt.) “She’s the rebel in her family. She was a black sheep,” said Dexter-Jones. “[Her look] There’s an upper-east feel to it, but she loves making it up. “

On our Zoom day, Dexter-Jones wears a gray cropped shirt underneath a green sweater, her short hair pulled back into a ponytail unlike Naomi. Although in real life she doesn’t wear heels during the day and rarely wears jewelry (“I lost it, and it was so traumatic”), Dexter-Jones found herself diverting Naomi and elevate his style while filming season three. She’s liked Marina Moscone from afar before, but after experiencing the brand’s clothing up close to Naomi’s role, she opted for a plaid graphic set and a halter top from the Resort 2022 collection for Heirof the third season premiere in New York.

Naomi Pierce’s wardrobe let Dexter-Jones do the “little WASP fetish” she developed while attending private school in New York City. “I think I’m one of two Jews in my class. It’s not very diverse,” she said. “When I was a kid, I would fantasize about my friends’ houses full of toilets. Wallpaper that matches the couch, matches the carpet. There’s something comforting about it — the order of it all. ”

Dexter-Jones comes from a creative family: Her parents are jewelry designers Ann Dexter-Jones (whose necklace Naomi wore during the performance) and the foreign guitarist Mick Jones, and among her siblings is a music producer Mark Ronson, designer Charlotte Ronson, and DJ Samantha Ronson. “Not to get all of Psych 101, but I think my personal life growing up was pretty chaotic,” says Dexter-Jones of the allure of aesthetic consistency she finds at friends’ homes. mine. As an adult, she occasionally translates those childhood fantasies into her personal style, but finds that she can’t fully commit to it. But, she said, “I really have to do it with Naomi.”

In a way, Naomi’s composite look is an appeasement for the inner turmoil she’s been going through this season, as she’s wrapped up in a family that the tabloids have rejected. hunt her down at a low point in her life. For all of Kendall’s absurd stunts and childish acts — including one in the perfectly perfect birthday present Naomi gave him — there’s no doubt in Dexter-Jones’ mind. that Naomi really cares about him. Dexter-Jones said of his character: “Choosing to be with someone so tied to this very traumatic event in my life doesn’t make logical sense, because it’s such an emotional choice,” Dexter- Jones said. “There’s a strange comfort in that dysfunction.”

Dexter-Jones sees Naomi as the type of woman who will dress when she’s having an emotional struggle — a classic psychological trick to strengthen herself from the outside in. In the middle of season two’s finale, when Naomi was carelessly maneuvered from Roy’s family yacht while on vacation, and at the start of season three, she went and cut her hair into a blonde bob Classy, ​​a bit messy. “She had this bad experience on the boat, and I came back and just wanted a haircut,” says Dexter-Jones, who called her own hairdresser, Ashley Javier, to do that job. “I wish it looked more expensive,” she added.