\n<\/p>\n
And despite being the punchline for a joke about an unimaginative Valentine\u2019s Day gift, Jennifer Meyer\u2019s engravable 18-karat gold nameplate necklace caught viewers\u2019 attention. Several hundred pieces sold after the episode aired, the designer said, confirming that it was not a paid placement but rather an organic one, because she and Foster have been friends for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole point was to show LA in the way we love our town,\u201d says the show\u2019s costume designer, Negar Ali Kline, who has featured brands high and low, including Elder Statesman, Amiri, Jesse Kamm, Reformation, and Anita Ko. \u201cI have so many DMs,\u201d she adds, from brands eager to participate. \u201cThere was a time when people weren\u2019t so interested in loaning clothing for TV. But I feel like that has shifted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fashion designers are not just paying attention to what\u2019s on-screen \u2014 they\u2019re building relationships around it. \u201cIt\u2019s the new runway,\u201d says Meritt Elliott of LA clothing brand The Great.<\/p>\n
Last year, Elliott and her co-founder Emily Current hosted a cocktail party at their West Hollywood store for Shrinking<\/em> costume designer Allyson Fanger and cast members.<\/p>\n \u201cAllyson reached out to us saying people were chattering about our pieces on the show, screenshotting them and stuff, and said we should really talk about this because there\u2019s not only a craft behind it, there\u2019s a whole business,\u201d Elliott says. \u201cIt turned out to be this love fest\u2026 Now, she works with our team, and we\u2019re sharing sample pieces with her so that product will be available in-stores when it shows up on-screen,\u201d she explains of eliminating the pain point for viewers not being able to buy into their favorite shows because of the traditional lag time from store to screen.<\/p>\n Costume designers, in turn, have become more fluent in the fashion business, breaking down looks on social media, launching ShopMy accounts, and turning on-screen influence into a modest-but-growing revenue stream with brand collaborations and capsule collections.<\/p>\n The impact is measurable. Shrinking<\/em> designer Fanger pointed to the rise of Liz \u2014 the show\u2019s \u201ccool, LA 50-something mom\u2019\u2019 \u2014 whose mix of slogan tees and Greg Lauren fatigues has made her an unlikely style star. After she wore Clare Vivier\u2019s \u201cMaman Je T\u2019aime\u201d sweatshirt, demand surged. \u201cWe remade the sweatshirt at our local factory, and sold several hundred as soon as it was back online,\u201d Vivier says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n