Emily in Paris Costume Designer Marylin Fitoussi on Why Diamonds Are the Show’s Secret Weapon

Emily in Paris entered the cultural lexicon at a very specific moment. It was October 2, 2020, not quite the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but still a strange, suspended time marked by travel bans, outdoor dining, and masks as the norm. The world was craving escape, and that’s exactly what Emily in Paris delivered.

Though early reviews dismissed the show as frivolous eye candy, it proved to be precisely what a wanderlust-stricken audience needed while stuck at home. Set in one of the most beautiful cities on earth, the visual appeal was inevitable, but it was elevated to another level by the exquisite, often whimsical vision of Marylin Fitoussi, the award-winning costume designer behind the Netflix hit.

From vintage couture to bold colour clashes and prints layered upon prints, viewers couldn’t look away. Diamonds have also played a prominent role throughout the series, and with Season 5 now streaming on Netflix, we may see even more striking diamond statement pieces, especially with Emily’s (Lily Collins) new short haircut, perfectly suited to showcasing earrings, more on that later, as she lives her best life in Rome.

Only Natural Diamonds caught up with Fitoussi, who just released EMILY IN PARIS: THE FASHION GUIDE, published by Assouline this month. The book features dazzling photographs of thousands of costume pieces. For Season 4 alone, Fitoussi pulled more than 25,000 looks from over 480 brands, and the book includes a foreword by producer Darren Star, along with contributions from Lily Collins.

Meet the Expert

• Marylin Fitoussi is the award-winning costume designer for Netflix’s Emily in Paris.
• Her career spans projects ranging from Luc Besson’s science fiction epic Valerian, where she served as assistant costume designer responsible for more than 600 costumes.
• Her résumé includes an extensive list of television series, films, and theater productions.
• A native of the southern French city of Toulouse, Fitoussi was born to a seamstress mother and grandmother, a heritage that shaped her early connection to craftsmanship and design.

Ahead, Fitoussi discusses the pivotal role diamonds and jewellery play in Emily in Paris’s costume design, why she enjoys spotlighting independent diamond brands, and why diamonds remain the quintessential accessory.

Why Diamonds Matter on Emily in Paris

Fitoussi had a bit of an education when it came to diamonds after joining Emily in Paris. A native of Toulouse, she graduated from the prestigious École du Louvre with a degree in textile design and may be one of the few people in history to launch a career by attending nightclubs. It was there that she connected with award-winning costume designer Sylvie de Segonzac (and David Guetta) and landed a job at the Parisian outpost of the legendary English costume rental company Angels and Bermans. She went on to work on costumes for numerous films and television shows, including the much-lauded Valerian.

It was the legendary Patricia Field of Sex and the City fame, another prolific force in costume-driven television, who hired Fitoussi. The two worked together for the first two seasons before Field stepped away, confident that Fitoussi could fully steer the ship as lead costume designer. She did not falter, earning her first Emmy nomination for Outstanding Contemporary Costumes for a Series in 2023 for the show’s third season, followed by another nomination in 2025 for its fourth installment.

Diamonds, however, had not been her forte in past roles, so she educated herself on these iconic stones, learning more with each season. When I started to understand, to see the power of an accessory, of this tool, contemporary or vintage, it was another world. Precisely on the last season [Season Five], every piece of jewellery for every character has a meaning,” she tells Only Natural Diamonds.  

Working With Emerging Jewellery Brands on Emily in Paris

While characters on the show have worn diamonds by Tiffany & Co. and Cartier, Fitoussi makes a concerted effort to also collaborate with independent and emerging jewellery brands. In Season 3, viewers saw Emily and her circle wearing natural diamond pieces from designers Messika, Dinh Van, Nue Fine Jewellery, and Bleecker & Prince.

Season 4 continued that focus. Rings from Guzema’s Moï, Classic, and Light My Fire! collections appeared on screen, along with Sarah O. Jewellery’s Harlem Half Moon diamond earrings, which Fitoussi noted were “helmet-approved” for scenes of Emily riding her Italian love interest’s moped. Miraco’s Allumare diamond huggie also made an appearance. Much of the jewellery that season leaned delicate and demure, intentionally designed not to compete with Emily’s bold, statement-making wardrobe.

Season 4 also spotlighted French jewellery brand Isabelle Langlois. Eleven pieces from the house were featured, including the Macaron ring set with colourful gemstones and diamonds, the Flora Pensée earrings with diopside, peridot, green quartz, and diamonds, as well as diamond drop earrings. Many of these pieces were worn by Mindy, played by Ashley Park, further underscoring the character’s expressive, jewellery-forward style.

In Season 5, now streaming on Netflix, Ukrainian jewellery house Guzema Fine Jewellery, founded in 2016 by designer Valeriya Guzema, is featured prominently, appearing a total of nine times. The delicate pieces shown include the Solo Diamond Eternal Flat Ring, diamond Trio Flat Ring, diamond Petal Flat Ring, gold and diamond Butterfly Ring, and a diamond-accented Flats Choker.

Guzema, which was also featured prominently in Season 4, is known for its poetic silhouettes, sculptural finesse, and whisper-light elegance. The brand brings a distinctly modern glamour to the show’s vibrant Parisian-turned-Roman world and is also highlighted in the newly released book.

“Everybody loves diamonds. It’s the diamond that makes the girls have sparkles in their eyes. And now we are not shy anymore about putting them in diamonds with real creative freedom and expertise,” Fitussi says.

How Diamonds Shape the Characters On Emily in Paris

Fitoussi explains that diamonds and other jewellery function as essential storytelling tools. This season in particular, as Sylvie, played by the fabulous Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, runs her own agency in Rome and embarks on a new romance with an Italian lover, her jewellery choices become intrinsic to this new chapter of her life. “She needed to have bold and strong pieces,” she says.

For the character of Mindy, who opens the season in a vibrant, head-to-toe lime green airport look (she’s a pop star in China now, so it tracks), Fitoussi says she leans into mixing high and low jewellery. Mindy may wear everything from plastic pieces to diamond earrings and necklaces. Fitoussi sees this as an opportunity to show younger audiences that while investing in fine jewellery matters, style and self-expression can also be found beyond the highest-profile brands.

For Emily, living in Italy has truly reshaped her aesthetic. This season, she wears all of the major Italian designers, including Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, and Giambattista Valli, to underscore the evolution of her style. Another defining element is her dramatically short haircut. Fitoussi was particularly excited by the look, which, despite being worn in Italy, feels distinctly French. It also gave her more creative freedom to design bespoke pieces for Emily, something they hadn’t explored in previous seasons.

One piece Fitoussi is especially excited about is a bespoke diamond ear cuff. Crafted in silver and black diamonds, the piece was created using a 3D model of Lily Collins’s face to produce a custom mould of her ear. This ensured the clip fit perfectly, she explained. “I wanted something strong in silver, a true statement piece. It was my first jewellery design, and I discovered the power of jewellery,” Fitoussi says.

When it comes to styling the cast in jewellery, Fitoussi says it always begins with the clothing, then moves to decisions around gold, silver, or diamonds. But she made sure that each character had a major “sparkle and diamond moment” this season, whether through a delicate accent or a bold statement piece.

The Power of Costume Design and Jewellery on Emily in Paris

Fitoussi admits working on Emily in Paris is her dream job, with access to some of the most beautiful shoes, bags, hats, and couture dresses imaginable, more than 50,000 pieces, by her count. Writing the book was initially daunting, but she approached it simply by talking about her work, which ultimately came naturally. “I’m happy that I still find my job and my work on the show interesting, and that it resonates with an international audience. Even if fashion magazines didn’t understand what it was about, the audience understood. And I think it came at the right moment, when everybody wanted to see themselves,” Fitoussi said.

Over the years, she says working on the show has led her to fall in love with what she calls the “magic” world of jewellery. “I’m impressed by what’s possible in jewellery today, how you can create pieces that feel very contemporary, very particular, and not so classic. I’m really discovering what designers are capable of now,” she says.

Emily in Paris Season 5 is now streaming on Netflix, and EMILY IN PARIS: THE FASHION GUIDE is available now.