Picture Credits: Netflix
People We Meet on Vacation is sweet comfort for any fans of romantic comedies. Based on the Emily Henry novel, Brett Haley’s film has got the awkward meet-cute, a dance sequence, and globe-trotting lovers quarrels. With a story spanning continents and years, People We Meet on Vacation is like the James Bond of love stories.
For costume designer Colin Wilkes, telling a real love story was what made the experience of the sincere film so fulfilling. “It’s refreshing to make a love story that has a lot of heart, that isn’t about violence, and not about fucking anyone over and climbing on top of each other,” Wilkes said. “It’s just a true blue rom-com. We all set out to do that.”
Wilkes is no stranger to love stories, romantic or platonic, having designed costumes for Palm Springs and Support the Girls. With People We Meet on Vacation, she gets to bring Poppy (Emily Bader) and Alex (Tom Blyth) off the pages to Netflix with style.
Recently, the costume designer spoke with What’s On Netflix about romantic colors and costumes, portraying a travel blogger, and thinking of Emily Henry’s fans.
Where’d you research take you? Were you looking at travel blogs or Instagram pages?
Yes, for sure, deep diving Instagram. There were these two girls in particular. One is this girl named Lilly Sisto, based out of New York. It’s kind of the sensibility of New York in fashion, you know what I mean? It can be combining this maximalist ideology in the way that you accessorize, and it’s making a statement, but then you have tennis shoes on.
A lot of my research is, well, how do we bridge the gap of how her character goes from when she moves from college to New York? I was thinking a lot about that and looking at street style blogs from New York. Watching New York is one of my favorite Instagrams, too.
It’s great.
Isn’t it? Those are the kind of real textured people that I like to create too.
No matter the genre or movie, where do you usually look for inspiration?
If I’m building boards for a project or a pitch deck, it’ll be music first. I put on a good playlist and deep dive into everything. I’m looking at art so I can be informed by color. I also like to integrate nods to other films, cinema, and the other tropes when we’re doing something in this canon. It’s always real. I rarely will look at editorial fashion stuff.
Why’s that?
I feel like that’s where it falls flat. I like to go into the macro of it or sink my teeth in like, “Okay, what is this person?” And then really go and find a person that is my inspiration for them. I’ll even go driving on Yelp reviews of places if there’s background [photos] at a restaurant or something.
Who was on the playlist for People We Meet on Vacation?
Oh, man. The good thing is Brett sent me the playlist at the beginning, and it is so all over the board. Most of the songs are in the movie, which is awesome. Robyn’s “Hang With Me” was always the anthem. And then there was, oh my God, I can’t remember some of the other ones, but that Han Zimmer song that’s, like, “You’re So Cool.”
Oh, True Romance?
Exactly. There’s also a Paula Abdul song that you hear in the car. Everything really translated. We listened to the playlist in the fitting room.
People We Meet on Vacation. (L-R) Emily Bader as Poppy, Lucien Laviscount as Trey, Tom Blyth as Alex, and Sarah Catherine Hook as Sarah in People We Meet on Vacation. Cr. Daniel Escale/Netflix © 2025
When Alex and Poppy are dancing, and the crowd is applauding, romantic sparks are flying – it’s so full of color and life. How’d you want the dance scene, with the extras and all involved, to pop?
Well, I was talking to [composer] Keegan [DeWitt] the other day, and we were just talking about how each of our work informs each other. I don’t totally know what it’s going to be like, but that’s why having a playlist at the beginning is always so useful because I know, texturally, where it’s headed and what it’s supposed to feel like. It enables me to make bigger choices with the design.
Especially when it’s scripted like, oh, the song hits and everybody goes crazy. This is an explosive world of color where everyone is expressing themselves and love is everywhere. We should see people dressing the part and being the most outlandish expressive version of themselves.
It’s a part of rom-com escapism too – the joy of watching people look really good.
Totally. The romanticism of all of that with the gorgeous backdrop and white suits. It’s warm, so soft, and inviting.
Are there any colors or fabrics in particular that you find evoke romance?
I like to think of that green and silk Chartreuse gown she wears. [Cinematographer] Rob [Givens] did a beautiful job at capturing it, because it got to go through its whole journey. She’s walking down the street and leaving him, it’s just billowing behind her, then into the rain where it’s just, like, the second skin. We did all these rain tests to see what that fabric would look like when it was wet, how it changed the color. It was just a beautiful moment for the emotional part of the scene where they’re getting wet and it’s so vulnerable and then they’re expressing their love to one another.
It’s cool because different fabrics do different things with light. I always really think about that and the emotional pieces of what we’re trying to portray. If this is a night exterior, it would be really good to have silks in a lighter color, because it’s really going to pop the light off of it and it’ll make it look more luxe. It’ll carry the story in a certain way, if that makes sense.
Obviously you knew what you wanted for these characters. What didn’t you want for them, though?
I didn’t want it to look too generic. I wanted it to really feel like the Poppy from the book, so that viewers could connect to that and it didn’t take them out of the story. There was so much plot-wise already changing from the book, and we knew that it was kind of baked in expectation. We wanted to stay authentic to the Poppy that expresses herself through clothing.
People We Meet on Vacation. Emily Bader as Poppy in People We Meet on Vacation. Cr. Daniel Escale/Netflix © 2025
We see Alex and Poppy go through their 20s, when almost everyone makes fashion mistakes. What good and bad clothing choices did you want for them in their post-college years?
If we think about in our early 20s, we always look back and we’re like, “What the fuck was I thinking?” We didn’t want to keep it too time specific so that the movie could stay overall timeless. What I focused on was silhouette.
When we first meet her, it’s like, oh my God, what is she wearing? She’s got this hodgepodge of an outfit on with this weird vest and this flowy little mini skirt. And then as we move through, we see a lot more sensibility in her style and she still maximizes the way she’s accessorizing, but her silhouettes change. I charted that out and had a timeline that showed where we started and showed where we ended.
Since Poppy is a travel writer, did you come up with backstories for outfits?
100%. I mean, that’s where I get geeky. In the script, everything felt on theme. I really ran with that because I was like, okay, in this segment in New Orleans, she’s wearing this incredible oyster bracelet that has little oysters on it because she’s dressing the part for New Orleans. And then on the beach, she has a bracelet that has little papayas.
They’re things she’s gathered from all over. It’s jewelry and accessories that are vintage from flea markets and that are homemade. I wanted to showcase the artistry and fun of accessorizing.
People We Meet on Vacation. (L-R) Tom Blyth as Alex and Emily Bader as Poppy in People We Meet on Vacation. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix
Poppy being a travel writer, a bit of a chameleon, must’ve just blown up the doors for options there.
I know. So many interpretations because there’s the vintage route that goes really far into the vintage. There’s the contemporary route where you’re making nods, which is what we did – making nods to the different eras in her silhouette. There’s the disco of the New Orleans look and the elegance in almost The Pretty Woman-esque dress. There are these notes that it’s hitting on different eras without being too specific, but it’s so subjective because fashion is a tough one. It was a tall order.
How do you decide what’s timeless? What costumes are less likely to date a romantic comedy?
Timelessness is a little difficult because it’s a little bit of an enigma. It’s always changing. Every era is a nod to another era and regurgitating ideas and silhouettes from a different era.
I think that encompassing all the eras is a way to make it timeless. Not keeping with one single trend was important to me. I looked at every single outfit individually and was like, does this feel like it’s very specific to 2015? I mean, sorry, what year are we in?
I keep forgetting it’s 2026, which is ridiculous.
I know, me too. What year are we in? Does this feel like it fits here or does it feel kind of just like it could fit anywhere and someone will look at this in 10 years and be like, “That’s cute.”
Poppy’s beach look is wonderful. Very Rita Hayworth and Audrey Hepburn. How was recreating the book cover?
We knew we wanted to recreate the cover of the book. We changed Alex’s outfit a little because I want it to be a bit more classic and retro in the way that hers look is kind of 60s. So, he has the striped little short swim trunks on and the cream camp shirt and Oliver Peoples sunglasses. We wanted to postcard that last moment and really bookend it.
The movie was only released today, but have you already seen fans picking up on deep cut references?
Not yet. I’m waiting and I’m like, do I spill it? But the fans are so observant. I had done an adaptation before, but this is next level. The Emily Henry Universe is a special group of fans. They do care. It’s cool to see what we’ve done as a love letter to them and what they’re picking up on.
Rating: PG-13
