If you couldn’t help but wonder what would make the perfect gift this holiday season, Rachel Antonoff has you covered. The New York–based designer’s eponymous label—known for its amusing, whimsical motifs—has released its latest TV-inspired toile de Jouy print, and OG Sex and the City fans will feel all the nostalgia. Miranda Hobbes—everyone’s favorite sardonic redheaded corporate lawyer—stars in a crewneck, jogger, and tote splashed with vignettes from some of her most memorable scenes, as illustrated by artist Hazel Lee Santino. In one, Miranda gives the infamous “eat me” sandwich a piece of her mind; in others, she locks lips with Steve, dons bucket hats and Lasik-eye-surgery-recovery goggles, and perches beside a chocolate cake (an homage to her “Betty Crocker clinic” baking binge).
“Miranda is really an unsung hero,” Antonoff tells Vogue, explaining why she gravitated toward Cynthia Nixon’s character out of the four leading ladies. “The way she talks, the clothes she wears—she’s so fascinatingly herself.” Below, the designer and TV aficionado discusses the making of the Miranda Toile, the joy of endlessly rewatching Sex and the City, and what it’s like “living in a full-blown nostalgia tornado all the time.”
Vogue: Whether your designs are tied to elaborate culinary displays or women in politics, you have this special gift for tapping into the clever and unexpected. From where do you glean inspiration?
Rachel Antonoff: My inspiration comes from literally everywhere in the strangest ways. Growing up, my mom and I used to go on what she would call “feel runs,” meaning one person would run whichever way they felt in the moment. That’s kind of what my design process feels like. I can’t tell you the number of times an idea has come from the waiting room of a weird gynecologist’s office, something an annoying ex-boyfriend said to me, or something I’m eating. I feel like a detective constantly paying attention, looking for the next bizarre idea.
So many of your garments feature New York foods and motifs. Do you feel like your designs are a product of the way you see the city? To what extent are they autobiographical?
They’re extremely autobiographical. They reflect how I see New York, having gone to school here, but with the twist of mostly having grown up in New Jersey and always feeling so close to the city but wanting to be there and finally getting to be. There’s a little bit of both sides and, of course, always celebrating New Jersey too.
Having grown up in Florida, I remember how exciting it was visiting New York and going on the Sex and the City bus tour. It feels like a rite of passage for fans of the show, both local and from afar. What was your team’s experience taking the bus tour to shoot the Miranda Toile collection?
Before we went, we almost viewed the tour as something ironic or a joke. Then when you’re on it, it’s impossible to feel that way because there’s something so earnest about just being there. Most people were visiting New York for the first time, and it was such a cool feeling to think that we actually get to live in the museum of a city that these people are touring.
What is your connection to toile de Jouy and narrative prints?
I’ve always loved a toile. Quite a while ago, our team started to root ourselves in the conversation-print genre. My favorite kind of conversation print is one that continues to unfold. I always love when you’re wearing something and feel like you have a little secret, whether hidden in the lining of a garment or in the print itself. Toile is the ultimate opportunity to hide stories because there’s so much going on. My dream for any of our prints is that if you were on the subway and got stuck underground, you could possibly occupy yourself by looking at your own shirt.
A few years ago, our team had wanted to do a straightforward, pretty toile, but because we often cannot contain the silliness in the office, we designed one where naked men are running and hiding, and my dog Lafitte is also hidden in there. Our first TV-themed toile was Tony’s Toile, which features Tony Soprano. I have a lot of anxiety, and since childhood I’ve been really good at self-soothing, whether it’s through food or TV. TV is a massive part of my life, and I love great stories, like The Sopranos. People liked Tony’s Toile so much, we asked ourselves, What else can we do? Last year we introduced Rory’s Toile based on Gilmore Girls.
How long has the Miranda Toile been in the works? Did you always want to do something with SATC?
Sex and the City has always been in our office zeitgeist. We quote it often, and it’s my personal background noise. You could write a big thesis about how wildly problematic it is, but at the same time, I think it brings a lot of comfort to a lot of people. I remember watching it at my sister’s shiva, and it was like a through line back to normalcy.
When our team discussed making a toile, Miranda felt like the most obvious choice because of the four women, she feels the most human, and she has so many iconic moments. Several years ago we had a Halloween [party] in the office where the challenge was to dress up as your favorite Miranda. I showed up in the look where she wears a bucket hat over her hooded jacket because it’s truly one of the most legendarily offensive pieces of styling of all time.
Miranda definitely has some of the funniest plotlines. How did your team select her scenes?
We’ve been working on it for about a year. It was a team effort to work out our favorite scenes and determine the Easter eggs we were missing. I was so excited that somebody remembered the dancing frogs, which was the gift Miranda gave her decorator for her wedding in season two.
Do you consider yourself a Miranda?
Honestly I’m probably like a Susan Sharon—you know, a weird background player. But if I had to be one of the four, God, I hope I’m a Miranda. I would aspire to be a Samantha, but I probably am more of a Miranda. If we do another Sex and the City toile, Samantha will be next.
What scenes would her toile have to include? I’m envisioning a Soho House ID that says “Annabelle Bronstein.”
That is genius! Also, James and his tiny penis. Sensational. Maybe that guy in the swing. Something with Richard.
What about Carrie’s toile?
I feel like for Carrie we would deviate, and instead of focusing on scenes, maybe we would focus on puns, perhaps woven into the trees. If we were going for scenes, I always loved her at the baseball game with the new Yankee. Obviously the Carrie necklace would have to be woven throughout like ribbons in a toile. And the Berger Post-it.
And Charlotte?
Art and Harry. Her getting drunk and dancing in Staten Island. Something with Trey—the cardboard baby! We’d have to have Bunny MacDougal and her keychain. So many opportunities for me!
Beyond SATC, do you have any dream toile de Jouy characters?
Adam Sandler and Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison are hugely important to me, as are Leslie Nielsen and The Naked Gun movies. But I don’t think I’m going to have customers for those.
Well, your nostalgia radar has been spot on so far. You’ve made a career of spotlighting niche motifs, and they’re clearly resonating.
That is really a lovely part of this job. We all have our memories and our shared weird nostalgia crossovers. It’s nice to share that with strangers and build a community.
This conversation has been edited and condensed.