Who Is Shane Hollander’s Stylist?
Indeed, by 2017 standards, the fictional Shane Hollander would have actually been pretty ahead of the curve, as far as rich and famous guys realizing that dressing for attention might actually be good for their careers. While professional athletes, particularly NBA players, have been influential dressers for decades, there was a systemic shift around the late 2010s. High-profile athletes finally started clocking that they could be standing on business, securing lucrative luxury ambassadorships and garnering (usually) favorable press in publications such as this one—a model their women counterparts had already mastered for a century. (Alas, it wouldn’t be until after the pandemic that Hollywood actors caught up.) And in the show, the well-mannered, closeted Shane is what they call “brand safe” in the biz; he’s already racked up deals with Reebok and Rolex.
For Hanna Pulley, Heated Rivalry’s costume designer, Shane’s styled debut is meant to look like he’s “still very contained in this heteronormative mask.” Despite the inadvertently Miami Vice-esque suit, “he’s just doing the easiest thing to not draw attention.”
For Pulley—who also costumed the first season of Benito Skinner’s coming-out college comedy, Overcompensating—dressing Shane was about highlighting his insecurity. “There’s just so much discomfort in the character himself, in the world outside of being an athlete. Like, Hudson is doing that great,” she added with a laugh, alluding to the actor’s outgoing personality IRL. “Hudson and Shane are very different people.”
Because the thing is, in this scene, Shane Hollander also looks pretty terrible. His beige suit is stiff and boring, the thick fabric isn’t right for the balmy Florida weather, and he still looks like he’d rather be wearing a Nike warm-up. The show’s vigilant viewership picked up on this, too.
“I love that he needed a personal stylist for this look when he could have walked into any random European Zara and grabbed the same outfit off the mannequin,” went one tweet.
