By the time Hacks reached its fifth and final season, Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) was still Deborah Vance — big earrings, bold looks and all. But for costume designer Kathleen Felix-Hager, it was Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) whose wardrobe told the story of just how much the young writer had changed since Season 1. As Ava became more confident and established in her own life, her clothes grew more sophisticated, incorporating lessons she picked up from Deborah along the way.

That evolution came into focus in Felix-Hager’s Emmy-nominated Episode 3, “No New Tricks,” which also gave the costume designer one of the season’s biggest challenges: creating a dress literally made from playing cards for Deborah to wear to a premiere. Constructed in three pieces and using real playing cards, the look became one of the series’ most memorable fashion moments. Here, Felix-Hager talks to Deadline about creating the showstopping dress and using fashion to reveal the more vulnerable side of Deborah and Ava.

DEADLINE: How would you explain Deborah and Ava’s clothing trajectory from Season 1 to the finale Season 5? 

KATHLEEN FELIX-HAGER: Well, Deborah’s style hasn’t really changed. I mean, she’s been pretty consistent throughout the seasons, but definitely there was a shift in Ava’s style evolution. So I think by the time we see her in the finale, she’s like the grown-up version of Ava Daniels. She’s a fully realized person. She’s her own person. She has some sophistication to her wardrobe at this point.

She’s sort of taken pieces that she’s learned from Deborah, in a way. Not that she has Deborah’s style, but she’s paying more attention to her clothes. She’s buying more investment pieces. She’s styling herself in a more grown-up way. So, I think that’s been the shift really for Ava, since we saw her in Season 1 and Season 5.

DEADLINE: Was there a conversation you had with the showrunners about doing anything differently for the finale season?

FELIX-HAGER: Not specifically, but I know we all felt a sense of really wanting to do justice to the show as a whole. For all the departments, I think we all felt the desire to leave it all on the table. I wanted to do these characters justice and to make Deborah the most Deborah Vance she’s ever been, to really explore how Ava grew up in her costumes and reflecting that in her wardrobe choices.

But, especially in the finale episode, I really feel like just Paris was beautiful, all the colors of all the coats, and that was really fun and creatively satisfying to paint the prettiest picture we could paint of this. Also, because Deborah was going there to say goodbye. She was going there to like her last hurrah, so I wanted her to feel her most beautiful, her most colorful. Even though she was making a decision, in theory, to end her life, I wanted it to be very life-affirming and very bright and hopeful. 

DEADLINE: For Deborah and Ava,  what are some pieces in their wardrobe that they cannot be onscreen without? 

FELIX-HAGER: Definitely for Deborah, it would be earrings. She cannot leave without a pair of big old dangly earrings. And Ava’s most beloved pieces are her vintage Levi’s. That would really be something that she didn’t really leave the house without. She wore those Levis a lot, and it was like, you know, you have your favorite pair of jeans.

DEADLINE: Let’s talk about your Emmy nominated episode, “No New Tricks”. First up, that gorgeous card dress. What went into the idea of this? 

FELIX-HAGER: In the script, it just said: Deborah Vance shows up at the premiere in a dress made of playing cards. So, it was up to me to interpret what that meant. And I did have a conversation with the showrunners and I was doing variations of different things. And they said, “No, it has to be a dress literally made of playing cards.” And I was like, “OK, that’s very specific.” [Laughs.]

I did a few sketches and I knew shapes that work well on Jean, so we wanted it to be a splashy moment. We constructed three pieces: a strapless red gown, a playing card skirt made of real playing cards, and they’re all bedazzled, which were hand sewn on and then the Bolero jacket. I knew I wanted this layer [of cards] around her face. So those were also real playing cards. They were just blown up into a bigger version. But my tailor, Rory Cunningham, constructed it, and I have the sketches, and it was really fun. It was the first thing that I had to do at the beginning of Season 5. 

DEADLINE: This episode also has Christopher Briney, who plays the musician character, Nico Hayes. What went into styling him? 

FELIX-HAGER: He was lovely. Fun fact, he does not have tattoos. Our makeup artist did all those tattoos on him. The moment where he and Deborah show up for the date and they’re in very similar Versace shirts was also a very fun moment. It was a little tricky to find a shirt that was going to work for both of them, and also make sense for the scene and not be super, super jokey. So, I think it really worked out. That black sheer  shirt was a fun rockstar moment for his premiere party, which is the one he wears when he meets Deborah in the card dress – so good. 

DEADLINE: Nico and Deborah’s short lived fling is fun. What did you want her wardrobe though to say about her confidence vs any vulnerability she expresses in this episode? 

FELIX-HAGER: When she first meets Nico, he asks her on a date, she thinks it’s a fake date. She thinks it’s for publicity. So, she’s going along for the ride, so to speak. But then when she gets so giddy and girly and wants to have this relationship, it was very fun for her to be very feminine, and in these soft pink colors of that blouse, and then the fur coat and the whole thing was really nice. Then for vulnerability, when he breaks up with Deborah, it’s a little more heartbreaking in style. 

DEADLINE: Ava also has quite a few outfit choices here. I love her denim fit. 

FELIX-HAGER: Yeah, it’s a denim on denim look with a tie. That’s where she goes to the premier party and she meets the magician and he asks her out. I thought it would be fun to have her dress like that when she meets him. And then when she asks him to join her at the wedding, Marty’s wedding, she’s in a very completely different look. He goes on the date with her, they go to the Ferris wheel and she’s wearing funky loafers. And then, when she goes to the wedding, she’s also very girly in that moment. She’s got, I believe, an Alberta Ferretti gray strapless dress and some pumps, very Audrey Hepburn-esque. I think it’s nice that Ava’s a little bit of a chameleon sometimes. She does things that we don’t expect.

DEADLINE: What is it about this episode that stood out to you in terms of costume design? 

FELIX-HAGER: It showed the card dress, of which I was very proud of the construction and the creation of something outside the box that we’ve seen. Even at that premiere party, which you didn’t really see on camera that much, there was so much work that went into the background, the dressing of the waiters and the waitresses at that party was like a whole jungle theme. And they were very like Adam and Eve and in gold, with vines. There was so much detail work in that. And then, when we saw Marty’s wedding, I think Ava had so many different evolutions in it. It was a very big episode in scope for us. So, I think it just told a nice story about how costumes can contribute to telling the story.

The Writers Guild of America has fired back at Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass after she expressed strong support for a settlement in the waylaid Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

Bass joined other state and local Democratic officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, in expressing support for a settlement of the antitrust lawsuit filed against the $110 billion deal. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is leading the action taken by 12 states as well as the WGA, has indicated no willingness to engage in settlement talks. That’s not surprising given the series of legal wins he has notched in the case over the past several weeks, including the setting of the trial date for next March.

“We are disappointed that Mayor Bass has chosen to join Paramount’s pressure campaign on public enforcers, to push through a merger that is being rightfully challenged as illegal and will lead to job losses in the entertainment industry,” the WGA asserted. “Her statement comes on the heels of a county report estimating thousands of jobs will be lost if the merger proceeds.”

Bass made the comments earlier Thursday during a press conference. Appearing with members of her administration, she said, “While there are varying perspectives on the proposed transaction, today we are united around one clear message: It is time for all parties to come to the table. The continued uncertainty is not good for workers, it’s not good for production, and it’s not good for the future of this industry. Too many productions in L.A. are now at a standstill, which means Angelenos are out of a job and they’re not getting paid. As mayor, I cannot stand by and watch as the job security of thousands of hard-working union members is put at risk.”

Paramount CEO David Ellison and other members of his management team have been actively looking at options to move the company out of its longtime home in L.A. Bass spoke up the day after participating in a mayoral debate which lacked any significant discussion of the entertainment business or the pending Paramount-WBD transaction. Also on Wednesday, a report submitted to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors projected that the merger would result in the loss of thousands of jobs. Paramount has promised investors it will deliver $6 billion in cost savings related to the merger, but executives have insisted that layoffs will not be a key method of reaching that target.

“Industry workers deserve a mayor who believes in upholding the law and protecting the working people of Los Angeles, not serving the interests of powerful corporations,” the WGA statement continued. “Paramount has created a false choice for entertainment industry workers: The company argues that enforcing antitrust law hurts us by creating uncertainty, which is of their own making as the company attempts to dominate the industry. We reject the claim that beleaguered industry workers must choose the possibility of a job today, in exchange for the certainty of job losses tomorrow.” 

Bass, reading from prepared comments, insisted her statement is “not about taking sides – this is about fighting for Los Angeles, standing up for our union workers, keeping Paramount here and protecting the future of this industry.”

A settlement, Bass added, must include “meaningful and enforceable commitments” to keep Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery in L.A. as well as maintaining jobs, productions and investments in L.A. and in California.”