The Who What Wear Podcast: Stylist Enrique Melendez on Jenna Ortega’s Gothic Glam Style Evolution and Those Viral Wednesday Season 2 Press Looks

0:10Hillary Kerr:Welcome to the Who What Wear podcast, your direct line to the designers, stylists, beauty experts, editors, and tastemakers who are shaping the ever-evolving world of fashion. I'm Who What Wear's co-founder and chief content officer, Hillary Kerr, and today I'm sitting down in studio with celebrity stylist and friend of the pod, Enrique Melendez. Enrique has been included in the Hollywood Reporters list of the top 25 celebrity stylists two years in a row and just received an InStyle Image Maker Award for his work styling actress Jenna Ortega, and rightfully so. The two have been working together for nearly a decade to develop the Wednesday Star's signature style.

0:56Hillary Kerr:Enrique joined us back in 2023 to talk about Jenna's bold, gothic looks for the Wednesday Season 1 press tour. Now, he's back to talk to us about how he and Jenna took things to the next level with the release of Season 2 of Wednesday. Enrique tells us the stories behind some of the many show-stopping looks, from the futuristic nude gown Jenna wore to the series London premiere to the Victorian Vivian Westwood dress she wore in Paris. And we definitely talk about her incredible Emmys look and all of the incredible Sarah Burton for Givenchy looks that Jenna has been wearing. Make sure to click on the link in the episode description to watch the best bits of this interview on YouTube.

1:39Hillary Kerr:It's all coming up on Who What Wear.

1:50Hillary Kerr:Last time we sat down, we were just coming off of season one of Wednesday and everyone in the entire Who What Wear team was obsessed with everything that you were doing with Jenna. And we were very excited for the return of Wednesday this year because we knew that we would have lots of incredible looks to write about. And thank you for bringing them to us. You make our job much easier. First of all, everyone should go back and listen to that first episode because you did such an amazing job of walking us through your trajectory, Jenna's style trajectory. All of it was fabulous. But let's talk about it.

2:23Hillary Kerr:We'll give like a little bit of a synopsis to start and then we'll get into everything that you've been up to since then, if that sounds okay. Absolutely. Okay, good. Okay. So you started working with her as we established before when she was just 14 and had the job of helping her transition out of really being perceived as just a Disney star. So how did you guys start to figure out what her true style was? Honestly, at the beginning of her career, we kind of followed a blueprint, so to speak. Zendaya, what she was doing, Selena Gomez, Dove Cameron, Sabrina Carpenter. They all had a show on Disney and they kind of followed a business model, how they kind of transitioned.

3:06Not broken.

3:07Hillary Kerr:Yeah. Yeah. But I think as she got older, everything that we were wearing wasn't representative of who she was as she was obviously discovering herself. And I'm discovering new things about her as we started to work together. So I think just as we started spending more and more time together, she started booking different types of roles. And I think we just kind of explored what her actual personal style was and also what she would gravitate to in wearing on red carpets and press and stuff like that. And I think Wednesday was the first time we really had a full on press tour. Well, the evolution has been phenomenal.

3:46Hillary Kerr:It has been really interesting to watch. I can see how in sync the two of you are and how you continue to like push it and move forward. So how much of the gothic influence and sort of the edgier, more dramatic and like extremely beautiful aesthetic that we see in her looks today is Wednesday inspired or perhaps method dressing or influenced by it? And how much of it is it just like what the two of you gravitate towards? For example, like if starting tomorrow, she suddenly decided like, all I want to do is be the next Julia Roberts in a certain era of her career and do lighthearted rom-coms, would it suddenly change like her press looks or your strategy?

4:28Interesting question. Yeah. I think everything that we do is obviously very authentic to her personal taste. and I think her being a fan of the horror genre, I think that just naturally sometimes when you're looking at two things on a rack and something's, you know, bubblegum pink or aqua blue, she's going to gravitate to the grays and the blacks just because, or even the earth tone. I think naturally that's just her aesthetic. So if she was to book one of those type of rom-com roles, I think we would find some way to kind of go into that, you know, the darker palettes.

5:03Hillary Kerr:Rom-com silhouette, but in black. Exactly. So talking about that style journey, there is a noticeable shift and continued evolution, as we've discussed, from season one to season two. For season one, there was still a lot of black and white and lace and leather and tailoring. And lots of those aspects showed up again for season two. But I feel like you really expanded upon that original framework. No one knew what a hit it was going to be when you were preparing for press for season one. And you very much knew what a hit it was when you were preparing for season two press. So what did those conversations look like?

5:37Hillary Kerr:What was the strategy like? What was the planning like? Jenna is, you know, a family to me. And I was like, I just don't want to disappoint her in this first fitting. You know, at the end of the day, like, I was like, what are we going to do? And I don't like to, like, bombard her with questions while she's because she was filming another project. And I know she's like paying attention to that. So I'm just out. So you just had to do magic on your own and hope that it worked? Well, it was a rainbow of options or directions that I just kept playing back and back in my head. And I'm like, we've done the black and the lace and the sheer.

6:10Like, I don't want it to be boring when I go into this fitting with her. I want her to feel like something new, you know, like she has to promote this. She has to feel great in what she's wearing. And I was just like, what am I going to do here? Because I'm like, obviously, all of those elements, black and lace and all of those make sense. But I'm like, there has to be another way to kind of capture the essence of, you know, the Tim Burton world. So I just started pulling away like anything that, you know, kind of inspired me. But like a week before I'm about to fly to London to have this large fitting for 2022 looks.

6:47She's like, hey, what are you thinking for this Wednesday tour? And I'm like, I love that you reached out because I'm like, I want to know what you're thinking. She's like, well, I just want to feel mature. Don't want to feel like a child. I'm really feeling in this 90s world. Just 90s inspired clothing in her personal closet. You know what I mean?

7:07Hillary Kerr:Like meaning minimalist. Minimalist. Very. Like almost stark. Absolutely. Yeah. Like old Calvin Klein. Old Calvin Klein. Absolutely. You were hitting it. Yeah, exactly. I just started doing some major edits. So at that point I was like, all right, cool. Kate Moss, Christine Ricci, Winona Ryder, and like old editorials with them. And they still captured the essence of goth, but in a glam way. And so I just looked at a lot of references there. And flew to London and was like, all right, cool. It's a shot in the dark. It was a full room of, I don't know, it was too many racks. It took a day to set up everything.

7:46Hillary Kerr:You wanted options. I wanted options, A. I wanted to make sure that she was covered because we didn't have a lot of conversation. That was the only conversation. It was about 10 text messages. It wasn't much about the direction that she wanted to go. So I was like, still not sure what direction we were going to go with. I feel like it's like a choose your own adventure at that point. Like, we start with this one piece and we can go here or we can go here or we could go here. And you're prepared for all of it. But you have to be prepared for all of it because she is in the middle of something. And you can't stress her out by asking her a thousand questions.

8:17Hillary Kerr:and you just have to figure it out there, right? Absolutely. That's a perfect analogy. We get there. And honestly, the Ashi studio was the first thing. She was like, what is that? And I was like, oh, no. You said she didn't like it? She's like, oh, what did you bring to this fitting? Because we talk to each other like that. She's like, that's really cool. I definitely want to try that on. And that kind of set the tone for that choose your own adventure. And I was like, all right, cool. It's interesting because it's like, yes, it's setting the tone for we're going directional and a strong point of view and like almost elements of futurism with that minimalism.

8:57Hillary Kerr:But then also there's like gothic romance to it in its own way, but it's subtle. It's not as literal as lace might be necessarily. I just want to get this description right. So it was a semi-sheer latex and it has a really subtle snakeskin print. So it almost looks wet in certain places. And I love it had that crazy cinched waist and then the flared hip. And I think part of what really, I mean, there's a lot that works about it. But then when you throw in the glam with like the bleached eyebrow and the strong lip and like the low pony with the ears just peeking through a little bit. It's like the right dress, but then how the whole thing comes together.

9:39Hillary Kerr:Because if you, if she had done all of this and then went, tried to go old Hollywood for glam, that is a very different effect and it negates the work. How do you also work with the team to say like, this is the full direction? Because the truly, the glam choices made it all sing and all in such an editorial voice. But that part's out of your control. So how do you get it all to work together? Thankfully, we have a beautiful team. having people that are totally collaborative and malleable and want to make sure that everyone on the team is happy with their work and this is a piece of art you know what i mean it's like something that you know sculptural and yeah minimal absolutely and i think jenna being a lover of art wanted to always keep to the integrity of the look because she it comes from her like obviously i'm always gonna fight for a fashion look but she knows like hey this is what it needs to give i need to give this or whatnot.

10:39So.

10:39Hillary Kerr:And that is giving editorial. Yeah. Which you do not always see on the red carpet. Yeah. Which is why I think we all like the Met Gala and like less so the Oscars. Exactly. It's just, it's interesting, you know, and interesting could be on two sides. Like some people love it and some people are like, what, you know what I mean? So, but that's great. It's art and that's what art is. And so. Conversation. Conversation. With Cesar and Melanie, hair and makeup. As soon as we did the fitting, I'm sending out the images and they're like, oh wow like everyone's will starts to turn because usually like this was two days before the premiere you know what i mean so usually like we have more than a couple days that we're we know what we're doing on a press tour but again she's filming and what she's filming she currently has no eyebrows and that wasn't actually even supposed to happen but honestly when we went through the fitting pictures everyone's like wait this helps translate the looks even more and so i was like oh okay Great.

11:35I agree.

11:36Hillary Kerr:But it's that 90s thing too. Like that was part of the look. Absolutely. Thinned out. Or bleached entirely. Yeah, bleached eyebrows. Yeah. It was only supposed to be for the first two days and we were going to change the bleach eyebrows. It was supposed to go back to brown. Obviously it stayed. With hair and makeup, like they are such beautiful artists. Like again, like they understood the taste level is aligned. You know, Jenna had her notes, but also just Cesar and Melanie came to the table with what made sense like even like the hair how it had a bend you know that came up last minute he's like caesar's like does it need a bend or does it because it was going to either be a straight but that that made those little details make a difference you know it's so crazy yeah and with the lip like it was going to be a nude lip to kind of make it look kind of alien-esque but then again she's like no melanie's like i feel like it needs a lip and that happens the way it happens you know and like i don't know there's something just really exciting about those little details yeah it just happened while we're looking in the mirror as she's getting her hair and makeup done it also to me when i saw that like it speaks to a level of yes artistry but also confidence confidence for jenna and herself and her taste level in her team and that everyone was working like firing on all cylinders like really making an editorial look for this big moment it's splashy it might be divisive to some people who do not understand and that's okay.

13:04Hillary Kerr:And to be comfortable in that, to me that's a level of confidence that shines through and I loved it. I mean, the entire editorial team at Who What Wear was like losing their minds over it. And we were just like, thank you for feeding us. Like this is so good. This is, it's really, it's exciting and electrifying to see someone because it feels so powerful and it feels like her owning her own power in this way. That is ultimately really inspiring. Yeah, thank you. Okay, so I also want to talk about this look, which is a custom tattered t-shirt dress by Zach Pozen's Gap Studio. Yes. This was for an event celebrating part two of season two's release.

13:46Hillary Kerr:As former Gap employee, like there's just that part of me that makes me so excited about this. I'm assuming that was very special for you too. Yes. But tell me how this all came together. We met Zach Pozen at an event and they were like, we have this dress that we want to get made. It's like a white T-shirt. I was like, oh, that's really cool. But it doesn't really speak to the project. to the yeah to the project that we're doing yeah or the person it's like really cool and I love it I want to make this happen and also with timing it wasn't going to happen so then I'm like oh we're getting another screening in New York in the beginning of September and so I reached back out and can we revisit that t-shirt dress or what about if we do like some type of not acid wash They actually do like this environmentally safe tumble wash is what they call it.

14:43And I'm like, let's make it look like a grunge T-shirt. You know what I mean? Like, let's give it that vibe. They totally were into it. You know, like Zach and his team that is understood that that's what needed to happen in order for it to work. Yeah, we get there and she's still on the fence. You know, like I think sometimes you have to kind of see it on your own body in order to kind of understand what it's giving.

15:04Hillary Kerr:Well, visualization is hard in that way. And it's like something like I can visualize something. I can visualize the outfit. And then I actually go and put it on. I'm like, well, actually, that's not really working the way I thought it was or vice versa. Last minute, like something was missing in that 90s grunge world. It was like, let me see one of your bras. And it was like a lacy bra. And like we cut it up and we put it underneath that dress. It gave that that lacy element that spoke to the Wednesday. Season one. Season one. And also, it was such a beautiful dress. It was so beautiful that we were like, I was like, I feel like this needs to have some distressing or tattering going on.

15:43Like, I feel like. Too perfect. Yeah, it was too perfect. It was beautiful. It could have been anywhere. But that's what I think really kind of took it over the edge. And even Jenna chimed in and was like, yeah, can we slash it around legs and here? And she was like, yeah, here, you know.

16:00Hillary Kerr:So you guys customized it? That's amazing. Amazing. Do you have to ask when you do that or do they just trust you? Always. I think it's somebody's, it's somebody's, it's someone's work. And Zach, you know, creative mind put that together. But, you know, I think he was gracious enough to, you know, collaborate with us on that. That's so cool. To make it the moment that it was. So I also want to talk about this very Victorian adjacent Vivian Westwood look for the Paris premiere, which was a chocolate brown gown. I'm going to find a photo of it. It was actually like an aubergine. No way. Deep purple.

16:39I know it reads. In my photo. Okay. No, in a lot of photos, people, I get that question a lot.

16:45Hillary Kerr:I love that. So it has the corsetry. It has the belt. Talk to me about taking, and this is from the fall 2025 runway, correct? Yeah. So how do you like make a runway look work for a client like Jenna where, you know, it's, she's obviously not as tall as a runway model. And also like, you're going to make it your own with accessories and other things. So walk me through that process a little bit. Well, that look almost didn't happen. Why? Because we did a whole fitting and then, you know, the event that it was actually was not a premiere, it was a fan event. And, you know, Vivian Westwood, obviously they want their looks to be on major red carpet.

17:29So they were like, wait, we looked this up. This is a fan event. We'd like to save this dress for another moment.

17:34Hillary Kerr:I'm like, we've already fit for this. Like, I don't know. Like it is, it's going to be a moment. It's like, I know it's set up as a fan event, but it's, it's the Paris event. Like this is the moment. And so it was a lot of back and forth. Thank you, Vivian Westwood for allowing us to wear that because it did end up getting so much press. So I was really stressed out about that one because it was the night before. And I was like, we could have pivoted and done something else. But that, again, I feel like it was perfect for Paris. Did you customize it in any way? Talk to me about the accessories because that is a great necklace.

18:10Hillary Kerr:Was that runway? The necklace was Lori Rodkin. Jenna saw it laying on the bed when we were doing a fitting. She's like, there we go. That needs to go on me for this look. And I was like, oh, I didn't know. again i bring a plethora of options and she's the one who accessorized i thought it would be a great option but i didn't know if it was going to be something that she gravitated to so i love how collaborative the two of you are absolutely i love biddings with her because you don't know what the outcome is going to be but i always make sure that she's covered and at the end of the day that you know we're both happy with it what an interesting backstory to that look though they're like, wait a second.

18:50Hillary Kerr:I don't know about this. Oh my God, please. Like, no, we're going to make it a moment. All of the heads over there, like, hey, please. But, you know, that's one of the things that I find so interesting about interviewing folks in your line of work is that I think that the general public has this idea of like, what styling is probably based on the Rachel Zoe project back in the day on Bravo. And it's like, like, there's a lot of negotiation. Brands want certain things they want. And it's not just the right person. It's the right event. And what is the event going to be? And I don't think folks always understand like how much of a back and forth that that can be and that you are, you have your strategy, you are incorporating Jenna's strategy.

19:28Hillary Kerr:You are perhaps incorporating the project strategy or thinking about that piece of it. And then there's the brand piece of it. And then like everyone, there's so many different inputs that you have to consider. It's not just a matter of like, I'm going to put this dress on this person and let's go. End of story. Right. Absolutely. Okay. So I, now this is the part that I've been really excited to talk about is all of the Sarah Burton Givenchy looks that have been coming up lately. You have styled Jenna and a number of different Givenchy looks and we have to talk about it. So first of all, like obviously like anyone who has eyes, I'm obsessed with Sarah Burton's work.

20:07Hillary Kerr:I love everything that she did at McQueen. I think she is such a genius and she's now with another very storied fashion house with Givenchy. Why do you think that the combination of Sarah, Givenchy, Jenna, like why does that work so beautifully in your mind? Well, first off, like Sarah Burton is such a beautiful human being. Like when we got to meet her, great. But she knows how to dress women. She's a woman who loves women. And if you see her last show, like she had a range of different body types on her runway, which I thought was a super beautiful thing. We had a couple premieres before Wednesday, and I was requesting these looks, but they weren't available because you have editorial time.

20:54Like, these are all, they're just not available.

20:56Hillary Kerr:Ad campaigns. Ad campaigns. And actually, yeah. There might be one garment, and it's flying around the world, and it's being shot by Vogue Korea, and then it's going to Elle Australia, and it's flying around the world, and it's for Sussie. Right. So it's, no, no, it's not available. And I'm like, oh, okay. But the first look that was available was the... Was it the red? The puffer. The black? Sleeve, yes. Okay, just for anyone who doesn't know, this is a black leather three-piece look with a pencil skirt, a bra, and exaggerated sleeves, which is from the Fall 2025 collection. And this was for the photo call for Wednesday in London.

21:40Hillary Kerr:It's so sculptural. It's so daring. It's so strong. It's so stunning. Yes, that was the first look, actually, that we did before the premiere. And we thought it was going to be like a photo call where you have a bunch of, you know, photographers standing outside. But it was an actual contained, controlled photo shoot. Shot it in a museum in London. So you had a whole editorial moment photo shoot? We actually were supposed to be done. Like we shot with the cast and she shot a couple of, you know, pictures solo. But I was like, please, can we shoot some more in this look? I have Sarah Burton, Givenchy.

22:18Hillary Kerr:We got to get more out of it. Yes, yes, yes, absolutely. So later on, she was on the stairs. She did all kinds of different things. And those images actually ended up being the ones that not only Netflix used, Givenchy loved them. They used them and posted them on their social. It also showed Givenchy that she could still wear a runway look. because she's, you know, she's 5 '1". And the runway model is, you know. Not. Not, you know. That kind of opened the door to kind of like, okay. So like once they saw what you could do. Yes. And then all of a sudden it's like, okay. And that's also the first time you had worked with her, especially at Givenchy.