As she began her work on Hacks , it became quickly apparent to costume designer Kathleen Felix-Hager that perfecting the look of Deborah Vance was an immediate priority. “I’m really proud of the collaboration between Jean [Smart] and I, and Paul [W. Downs] and Lucia [Aniello] in creating this character,” she says.
“We just wanted to make her vibrant and alive, not a caricature and not a derivative of any other female comedian we’ve seen. She’s definitely a combination of people, but we also took influence from Sam Kinison and we incorporated a lot of visuals to create her.” Hacks follows the relationship between legendary Las Vegas comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and her young comedy writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder).
As the costume designer since the beginning of the series, Felix-Hager has seen Deborah’s looks subtly shift to fit the narrative. “Season 1, we saw her a lot in Vegas,” she says, “with a lot of her Vegas costumes. Season 2 took her on the road, so she stripped down a little bit and her silhouette changed slightly.
She’s a bit more casual – still in sequins but not head-to-toe sequins. And then season 3, she’s going after the late-night show, so she’s dressing for that part..
. So, she uses her clothes as a jumping off point for how she wants people to perceive her in the world and I think it’s a useful tool for her.” Although her style has shifted a bit to dress for the part of late-night host, it was important for Felix-Hager t.