During Scandal season 3 premiere, Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) wore this beyond perfection of a white trench coat, a Burberry Prorsum Double Duchess Caped Trench Coat from the Spring 2013 collection, as she met with the president to discuss a plan to solve the problem of having her name being out there as the President’s First Mistress. Watch the season 3 premiere video below:
Huffington Post spoke to the award-winning ‘Scandal’ costume designer, Lynn Paolo about this signature piece:
Olivia pops up in the Season 3 sneak peek sporting yet another standout white piece, a Burberry Prorsum Double Duchess Caped Trench Coat from the Spring 2013 collection. How did you choose that look?
That was a tricky moment because obviously with the last season, everybody now knows Olivia’s name and she’s out there tied to the president. And in the scene that they used for the promo, she sees the president and I just wanted it to feel as though she was in a suit of armor. She was so hurt and conflicted, and she needed to know who put her name out there. Their relationship had ended somewhat badly and we didn’t know if they were going to get back together. So I wanted her to be completely closed off. And the way Shonda refers to the cast as “gladiators in suits,” I just felt that it needed to be stronger than a suit this time with all of the emotions in her.
We actually talked at length about whether she should wear the coat open but I said, “No, let’s keep it closed.” It had that cape… I actually saw it in a magazine and literally said, “We had to have that coat!” We shipped it in from London because we couldn’t find it in the States.
I thought that being in complete white again — even the purse is white — and you can see from the body language and how buttoned-up she is, that this is a very difficult moment for her.
Burberry Prorsum Double Dunchess Trench Coat
What do you think of Ms. Olivia Pope’s Coat on the season premiere?!?