Why viewers love The Bear for its on-screen fashion

Hit FX Series The bear The show is about a lot of things: complicated family dynamics, grief, toxic work environments, Chicago, career obsession, and, of course, food. But for some people, it's simply a show about clothes set in and around a Chicago restaurant.

The third season of the series has already given style-obsessed viewers plenty to rave about.

In the first episode, Carmen Carmy Berzatto, played by Jeremy Allen White, wears an olive-colored, weathered Barbour Ogston jacket in a flashback; later in the season, he wears a workwear-inspired cotton jacket from Ralph Lauren's RRL sub-brand.

JCrew has released a capsule collection consisting of a hat, T-shirt, sweatshirt and work jacket featuring the logo of the fictional company owned by the show's Fak brothers, played by Matty Matheson and Ricky Staffieri.

Contrary to Sex and the Citywho had Carrie Bradshaw's Fendi baguette bags, and Succession on HBO who had her ridiculously spacious Burberry bag, The bear was not designed with major links to the fashion world.

“I didn't expect that. Not at all,” said Courtney Wheeler, the show's costume designer.

JCrew has released a capsule collection featuring the logo of the fictional company owned by the Fak brothers from the series. Photo: Instagram/JCrew

Our show does not openly talk about fashion, like Sex and the City Or Emily in Paris. That's what we think the world that these characters live in should feel like. The fact that people are responding to it is really cool, but that wasn't necessarily our intention.

Learn more: The most famous fictional fashion influencers are… James Bond and Rachel Green

But since the series debuted in 2022, some have made it their mission to understand what the characters are up to, particularly the title character, Carmy, a wounded but fiery chef who transforms his deceased brother's humble Italian beef sandwich shop into a temple of gastronomy.

Online sleuths, for example, found the same plain white T-shirt that White wears on the show for all three seasons: the 215 Men's Loopback T-Shirt made by Merz B Schwanen, which retails for around US$85 (around RM398).

The German company, which opened its first store in the United States this year, was unaware that the T-shirt would be introduced and experienced a surge in interest, leading to the company's website being temporarily blocked.

Similarly, a patchwork wool jacket from cult Danish brand NN07 that White wore in the first season has since become a fetishized menswear item.

Wheeler recalls a saleswoman at Bloomingdales removing it from a mannequin so she could show it off during a fitting, and White turned to it.

Once identified on a Reddit menswear forum, the jacket, a style known as the Gael, sold out; it has since been restocked twice, both times within 30 minutes, wrote Mikkel Hammershoj, a press representative for NN07.

“I would say there is a very direct effect,” Hammershoj added.

Although character and plot are what drive costume design, fashion becomes a leitmotif The bear This is no exaggeration, because, by profession, aesthetics and craftsmanship occupy an important place in the world of haute cuisine.

“I think Carmy is the kind of person who has always wanted to go out,” Wheeler said. “He's the kind of person who looks for quality.”

Actors and creators also seem to be exploring their own styles.

A chef jacket designed by Thom Browne was dramatically unveiled in season two. — Instagram/Thom Browne

That includes White, whose personal style has been closely followed and who recently modeled in a much-talked-about Calvin Klein underwear ad; her co-star Ayo Edebiri, who plays Sydney Syd Adamu, a red carpet favorite in part because she has worked with stylist Danielle Goldberg and is on the cover of the latest issue of Vanity Fair; Matheson, the show's chef and executive producer who has her own clothing line, Rosa Rugosa; and the show's creator, Christopher Storer, who has a penchant for Thom Browne and the Drakes label.

Sometimes I'll just go up to his room to ask him a quick question, Wheeler said of working with Storer, and we'll end up spending 45 minutes talking about loafers.

Learn more: Emily Cooper vs. Wednesday Addams: Who is the Ultimate Fashion Icon?

Some fashion items have even become plot points, like a stash of Big E Levis jeans so valuable that Carmy uses them to pay off a debt, or a Thom Browne-designed chef jacket that is gifted to Syd in a dramatic reveal in season two.

Asked if she's speaking more to those who watch the show for the fashion, Wheeler said, “There's a little bit of that, but we don't want to force it.”

And while these pieces can generate online content, Wheeler said the important thing is that the clothes serve the story.

When you're in the fitting and everything comes together, everything clicks and you start to feel like a real character, that's when you think, 'Oh, yeah, this is it,'” she said.

And while menswear fans continue to clamor, searching for the exact style of pants, T-shirts and outerwear Carmy wears on the show, Wheeler pointed out one important detail.

“We adapted a lot of the stuff you see on television,” she said. The New York Times