‘Emily in Paris’ Stars Kate Walsh and Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu Break Down Their “Couture Car Crash” Scene

Emily in Paris Season 3 is littered with fabulous one-liners, but perhaps the most memorable is when Julien (Samuel Arnold) gasps and exclaims, “It’s a couture car crash!”

If you have yet to watch Season 3, Episode 2, “What’s It All About,” you might want to stop reading to avoid spoilers. But if you’ve witnessed Madeline (Kate Walsh) and Sylvie’s (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) accidental “Who Wore It Best” scene, then read on to hear the two Emily in Paris stars break down their hilarious fashion feud.

When Julien spots Madeline and Sylvie walking towards each other at the Pierre Cadault Retrospective event wearing nearly identical long black dresses with plunging necklines and bold arches behind their heads, he wants to look away in horror, but he can’t. And neither can viewers.

Madeline, who went to the event with every intention of begging Sylvie to return to Savoir, joked, “Well you definitely wore it better.” But Sylvie fired back, “Really Madeline? First Savoir, now this. Are you actually trying to be me?” Madeline told Sylvie the she “may be able to put on the dress” but Sylvie has “a way with clients and culture” that she “can’t even begin to emulate.” She apologized and offered Sylvie a role as president of Savior, but Sylvie declined, so the two were left to awkwardly exist side-by-side in their chic twinning fits.

“It was a great scene to look forward to [but] oh god, I was kind of scared of how it would play, because it’s a weird scene that can kind of play like two women fighting, and we didn’t want that,” Leroy-Beaulieu told Decider over Zoom. “But we didn’t talk about it at all, because we were both still in our own little worlds, kind of observing our territory and not talking to each other a lot…That was the dynamic so we could work on that scene in the proper way. But it was a lot of fun. It’s fun afterwards, but while I’m doing it I’m always like — I’m concentrating and things can become very painful sometimes.”

“Yeah, and also we should say that all the things we shoot are so big. Whether it’s a location that’s very hard to get, like the Eiffel Tower, which we only had for a few hours,  or even the couture car crash was a museum [and] a huge couple of days shooting [with] a lot of background components. So you really have to be laser focused,” Walsh added. “And I always want more, I literally just had a thought, ‘Oh, I wish I had done something different in that scene.’ This is the madness a bit of being and actor. I was like, ‘Oh, I should have gotten on my knees and begged you.’ That would have been so good. But that’s part of the challenge. You just don’t have time.”

In the episode, Sylvie opted for a more elegant, understated look, while Madeline blinged her dress out with gold chandelier earrings, a massive statement necklace, and flashy wrist cuffs. Despite the differing accessories, both women looked straight-up stunning in the scene. Walsh thought Leroy-Beaulieu “definitely wore it better,” while Leroy-Beaulieu said, “No! When I saw you I thought, ‘God, that’s an Egyptian goddess.'”

“STOP IT!” Walsh laughed. “Oh, the snake in the boobs? It was like choking in my cleavage…Yeah it was fun!”

In Emily in Paris press materials, costume designer Marylin Fitoussi shared that the black dresses were from the brilliant Stéphane Rolland, who designed the Cadault dress Emily wears in Season 1. “For the Pierre Cadault Retrospective this season, we were lucky enough to have haute couture dresses; unique pieces that retrace Stéphane Rolland’s entire career. And he gave us the absolute honor and pleasure of participating in the shoot and playing himself,” Fitoussi explained. “He has a lot of humor, a certain self-deprecation, so he congratulates Pierre Cadault for this immense and very beautiful work — work which Stéphane has actually done himself. It was a very joyful moment. The decor is just magnificent.”

When asked why she chose that particular black dress, Fitoussi said, “…because there is a very devilish side to Sylvie at that time. I wanted it very minimalist; a black dress with an arch that was completely innovative in its construction.”

“We had to make a double of this dress for Kate Walsh, who arrived a few days before the shoot, so we all crossed our fingers that it would be as beautiful on her body as she was on Philippine’s physique, and it was,” Fitoussi continued. “It was a beautiful moment, with an on-screen quality that will be quite amazing to watch.”

Emily in Paris Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.