“Everybody knows what they wore from 1996 to 1999, but we were telling the story of how they met…The most challenging thing was how to tell the story in terms of the clothes, who she was before she was photographed relentlessly,” he said, pointing out that for JFK Jr., famous from birth, there was no such dark period.
“They’ve been fashion icons since the first photograph, especially her,” Mance added to Vanity Fair. “It was important for all of us to get it right and to just be respectful of them and their legacy.” He also described his hiring as a bit of a hail Mary. “I got the call. I hopped on a plane less than 24 hours later. Normally, you spend weeks and weeks referencing and prepping and wrapping your head around it. But on this one, I think we had about four days—while they shut down over July Fourth weekend—to reshop, refit, and redesign.” Then the reshoots began.
To get everything just right, he “beat the hell out of” a Birkin to mirror Bessette’s own distressed bag, and found a specific Prada purse in Ukraine via Etsy, he told Variety. “Prada, that season, did two different versions of the bag, and the top stitching was different. We did one take with the wrong bag,” Mance said, recalling his immense relief when the correct one arrived in time for a close-up.
