In the opening shot of the first season of Industry, Harper Stern (played by Myha'la in a breakout role) sits in front of her to-be manager Eric Tao for what is her eighth job interview. As she tells him why she belongs at Pierpoint & Co, a prestigious, fictional investment bank in London, Harper appears stoic and confident. “I am here on my own,” she says calmly, dressed in a slim-fit, poly-blend black blazer with her braids picked up into a pony-tail and her face seemingly makeup-free. In that moment, she represents hunger and ambition of the self-made experience, totally uninterested in glamour and focused on succeeding in the finance world rather than showing off her personal style. But as soon as Harper walks onto our screens in the latest, fourth season of Industry (first episode out now on BBC), it’s clear that things have moved on dramatically. A custom-made, broad-shouldered grey skirt suit with a matching trench coat and a pair of towering heels. Along with a confident strut, dark sunglasses, and a patent-leather bag – the tone is set. This Harper knows how to pull a look.
Get Harper's S4 look:
“She’s never had a chance to enjoy it,” says Laura K. Smith, costume designer behind the show’s third and fourth seasons. By "it", she means money and success, things that have felt ephemeral for Harper over the three previous seasons. In her most recent iteration, our hero is at the highest position she’s ever been, and her new wardrobe reinforces that dominant presence. But the custom tailoring also draws a parallel with another character.
“In season one, Robert [played by Harry Lawthey] gets a suit made for him thanks to his manager, Clement. One of the sub-plotlines has always been Harper's relationship with Robert and how they were close. We've seen him come back to the floor and brag about it, so we imagined her thinking, once she had money: 'Oh yeah, the bespoke suit – that's what you do.' What was important to Myha'la was that it be ultra-feminine. To also have high heels, incredible hair, great nails, and a trophy handbag, a Chanel Boy Bag, which is something [Harper] hasn't really had before, both because she is very pragmatic and because she hasn't seen the point. [...] This [suit] tells people: 'I am a serious entity. You have to take me seriously even before the words come out of my mouth.’"
In contrast to Harper’s contemporary fierceness, her counter-hero in the story is Yasmin Kara-Hanani (played by BAFTA-winning Marisa Abela), who is currently in the depths of country pursuits as Lady Muck. Between hunting, storming through her Grade 1-listed estate and being an aspiring Tory first lady, Yaz has evolved from her posh ingénue persona into what you might mistake for a manor tradwife. But Smith argues she is more than that. “Once your partner takes on a public office, you kind of become part of the public office yourself. Because wherever that takes you and wherever that role takes them, you're a travel companion on that road, and you're there to bolster a certain type of image, and become part of that machinery. So she's gone from one type of machinery into another, and again, she gets and understands the optics of that.”
While Yasmin successfully avoided wearing finance-bro padded gilets during her banking days, last season’s finale showed how she ended up in a very similar hunting version that somehow felt appropriate. “Well, she's found her tribe,” notes the costume designer, saying that season four definitely felt like an extension of that arc. She wears classic heritage brands connected to hunting aesthetics like Purdey and Fairfax & Favor, with a large focus of her wardrobe being on a detail favoured by many a posh person. “We had previously seen monogramming on her father’s boat, which was called Lady Yasmin, so we wanted to take it into her nightwear in [Viscount] Norton's house. [...] There's a definite sub-language of the dressing gowns of Industry.”
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Smith says the starting point for the season was thinking about how the hero characters “take ownership of their identity,” as she began having conversations with the actors and exchanging moodboards to see how their looks evolved into this new chapter.
Since her breakout role in Industry, Myha'la has become a fashion icon in her own right, and the influence of her personal style has definitely become more visible with this season. In a marginally more corporate iteration of the actor’s 2025 Met Gala custom Timberlands designed in collaboration with Luar, Harper wears black thigh-high boots as she stands up to an investor in the first episode and fights back for her authority. Her wardrobe was completed with designer and vintage pieces from brands like YSL, Celine and Alaïa, all of which are known for cutting a powerful silhouette.
One of Yasmin’s fashion standouts of the season comes in episode two, and is featured prominently in the season trailer. It’s – unsurprisingly – in the form of fancy dress, a testament to her controlled environment and a clear dedication to respecting the rules. She wears a tailor-made version of a Marie Antoinette costume at her partner’s themed birthday party, a look that feels rife with symbolism. But beyond the classic corsetry, a pouffe wig and the most decadent silks, Yaz’s choice of footwear nods to the rebellious playfulness we fell in love with her for. A statement, red Vivienne Westwood wooden platform from the designer’s AW13 collection pushes through the layers of sand, beige and ecru cashmere that envelop her throughout the season.
Well-written, funny and dramatic. Industry has been an instant hit that captured audiences from the moment it came out back in 2020. With this fourth season, though, a whole new element of style has been introduced to the conversation, and we couldn’t be more excited to see where this fashion journey takes Harper, Yasmin and the rest of the show’s complex characters. With eight episodes airing on BBC every Monday, you already know the story is about to get wild – but we can tell you that so are the looks.
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