. The show that gave all noughties' teens a weekly slice of life at a glamorous Californian high school. The black tie debutante balls,We poured over the wardrobes of the lead characters, and in particular the preppy mix of polo shirts, rara skirts and cashmere knits worn by Marissa Cooper, played by Mischa Barton., the show’s costume designer Alexandra Welker has revealed that Marissa’s much-loved outfits were not quite as they seemed.
However, Welker was determined to create the expensive wardrobe of a Newport Beach teenager, and searched high and low for believable alternatives. 'People got really worked up over that Chanel book bag; they thought that the idea of a teenage carrying one to school was obscene!' Welker said. 'I’ll be honest, those Chanel bags that she carried, those weren’t something I could have on my budget. But I found this amazing store in Downtown LA that sold the best-looking fakes I’d ever seen! So we used some really, really good knockoffs.
As the show rapidly gained a loyal legion of fans, and viewing figures went through the roof, it wasn’t long before designer brands were calling Welker.Ironically, Mischa Barton quickly bagged an ambassador role with Chanel fine jewellery, and the rest, as they say, is history. 'I’ll always be grateful to Mischa Barton. She started doing a lot of modeling because of the show, and the folks at Chanel loved her. They actually loaned me a couple of samples, and once we started using real Chanel, of course, I had to let those fakes fall by the wayside.'