Lily-Rose Depp’s Backless Robe in ‘The Idol’ is a Twisted Homage to Marilyn Monroe 

There were two major scene-stealers in last night’s premiere of The Idol on HBO: Jane Adams‘s unapologetically awful record label exec, Nikki Katz, and Lily-Rose Depp‘s gorgeous red and black backless robe.

Depp’s character Jocelyn wears the bewitching coverup twice in The Idol’s series premiere, “Pop Tarts and Rat Tales.” First, during the opening sequence when she speeds through the spectrum of human emotions on command during a photo shoot, and later when she invites dangerous new beau Tedros (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye) to her palatial home. The garment is an absolute triumph of fashion design and a twisted homage to one of the most famously doomed sex symbols in Hollywood history: Marilyn Monroe.

In “Crafting the Idol” — HBO’s trademark post-credits episodic breakdown — The Idol‘s costume designer Natasha Newman-Thomas revealed that director Sam Levinson sent her a classic Slim Aarons portrait of Marilyn Monroe as a reference pic. Aarons photographed the Hollywood legend in a similar red satin and black lace robe lounging on a couch surrounded by fan mail. The mess of letters creates an aura of chaos that contrasts with the starlet’s inherent glamour.

Of course, Jocelyn’s version of the robe is sexed up for 2023. Newman-Thomas was tasked with not only reinterpreting Monroe’s look, but making the robe somehow backless. She achieved this with artfully placed satin and lace panels in the back holding the garment together. The ultimate effect is one that suggests boudoir glamour with an edge of danger. Perfect for the two scenes Jocelyn wears the piece.

Slim Aarrons’s portrait of Monroe is shot in such a way as to suggest it’s a candid moment being caught on camera. Of course, thanks to the perfect lighting and Monroe’s own practiced pose, we know it’s clearly not. It’s a set up that is echoed in The Idol‘s opening sequence. Jocelyn, in her version of the robe, is asked by photographer Eddy Chen to laugh, cry, and be “vulnerable” on command. Jocelyn’s ease channeling each emotion shows her true emotional detachment from life at any given moment. In fact, we now know that we can’t necessarily trust any reaction Jocelyn gives us. Like Marilyn, she might just be giving us the emotional response she thinks we want.

Depp dons the robe later in the episode to seduce the mysterious club owner Tedros. While he frets over his hair and teeth in the mirror and practices a corny pickup line, she enters the scene dressed to kill. She’s paired her scarlet and black robe with high heels so she can be “taller than him.” The power dynamic in their flirtation switches after she plays him her lackluster single and takes off her heels. Tedros kneels in front of her in tandem with a lyric beckoning a lover to get on their knees, but it’s soon clear she’s acquiesced to him. By the episode’s end, Tedros has pulled Jocelyn’s robe over her head to erotically asphyxiate her. He takes a knife and carves a hole for her to breath and says, “Now you can sing.”

In just one episode, one garment has connected Jocelyn to the legacy of Marilyn Monroe, served as her armor, and been sacrificed for the sake of knife play. That’s a lot for one robe to do! And it’s a testament to Natasha Newman-Thomas’s work that the piece is able to convey so much while being comprised of so little fabric.

There are only four episodes left in The Idol‘s first season. Will Jocelyn fall completely under Tedros’s spell or will he really help her find her voice after all? And how worried should we be for Jocelyn given what we know of Marilyn Monroe’s own tragic end? All I know is that Lily-Rose Depp’s red backless robe is a masterpiece of costuming.