Jenny Slate’s ‘Punchy’ Hèrmes Birkin Bag in It Ends with Us Had Its Own Security Guard on Set (Exclusive)

Jenny Slate makes an impact from the second she walks into Lily Bloom’s in It Ends with Us.

As Allysa, the actress, 42, is boisterous, funny, colorful and the perfect best friend.

And she has a killer wardrobe.

In her very first scene in the film, where she walks into the flower shop before Lily — played by Blake Lively — before she’s even been able to clean the place up yet, the very rich (and seemingly bored) Allysa is a showstopper.

Not only is she wearing the most gorgeous coat we’ve ever seen, but she’s carrying an Hèrmes Birkin bag oh so casually. That’s how you know she’s got money — and she does. She’s married to a millionaire.

Costume designer Eric Daman breaks down the details of Allysa’s first look for PEOPLE, and the anatomy of Allysa’s wardrobe as a whole, saying he didn’t want her to come across as a caricature because she’s so rich.

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“I wanted her to feel like she’s going to be the BFF who’s a little bit of a fairy godsister in a way, and that [her first look] has a magical whimsical etherealness to it that felt otherworldly, but also wanted to make sure we didn’t fall into wacky best friend,” he says.

Thus, he reached for two statement pieces: a coat and a bag. The jacquard coat, by Oscar de la Renta, was one he had seen in the ODLR showroom while working on the finale of Gossip Girl. At the time, he didn’t have a place for it in the show, but he said it kept “singing” to him.

When this project came around, he had his team call the house to see if it was available, and it was.

“It just kind of made my dreams come true to be able to work with that piece because it was so unique and beautifully crafted and it didn’t feel like wacky fashion,” he says. “It’s beautiful. Also, there’s an artistry to it. It’s Oscar, so it’s beautifully crafted, and the lines are incredible.”

The other piece of the puzzle was the bag, and Daman knew it had to be a Birkin, but he didn’t want just any Birkin, he wanted one that was “punchy.”

“I feel like women with real money and taste are carrying the punchy colors,” he says with a laugh. “That’s their neutral — not camel or black.”

But working with a slim budget meant strategically borrowing one, and it wasn’t easy finding what he was looking for. Fortunately, Daman was able to find the exact orange Birkin he needed from Fashionphile — but it came with a caveat.

“We were very excited to find the bag, and it had its own security guard that came with it, which I hadn’t really seen since pulling Van Cleef on the good old days of Gossip Girl. But okay, it needs a guard and that’s awesome,” he says.

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Building out Allysa’s wardrobe, Daman says he kept it just shy of going “wacky,” because he never wanted Allysa to stray into that territory, and in fact, he sprinkled a bit of Blair Waldorf throughout her costumes, which you’ll see right from the start, down to her headbands.

“I felt like Allysa growing up would’ve watched Gossip Girl and would’ve been a Blair,” Daman admits. “Just an Easter egg nod for all the fans and just to be light and self-referential about it, which as a designer, you don’t very often get to do without going full tilt. But just having, like, the headbands so there’s an element to it. Once you see that, you’re like, ‘Oh, she would’ve been a fan of the show. And that would’ve carried over into how she dresses.”

It Ends with Us lands in theaters on Aug. 9.