PS: What about the cool kids? How did you figure out what's trendy right now?
AN: We actually went to a local high school and sat there during lunch! Since this is current and temporary work, we really wanted to mimic what kids are doing. We wrote to the principal at Lincoln High School in Portland, OR, where the show is shot, and asked if we could come in and walk around. Seeing that anthropology side of human behavior and understanding what the groups are really helped. We noticed, for example, that so many kids right now are into the late '90s and early 2000s trends. Personally, I feel that is OK, but we also didn't want to date the work that we were doing. So we combined the stereotypes and mixed the jock vibe with what's going on right now.
PS: There's an episode where Chad is obsessed with getting a new pair of Nike LeBron sneakers, and he spends the entire episode trying to get his hands on them. How important do you think fashion was to a geeky character who's desperate to be popular?
AT: Super important — it's a status symbol. [Chad is] wearing what he thinks people should be wearing. He's wearing what he thinks the cool kids would be wearing. We gave him a personality through his clothing and through what he thinks he should have, but then he gets it so wrong, and that's where the comedy comes in.
PS: How did you create opposition between Chad and his younger, cooler sister, Niki? She's clearly the more mature one of the two.
AN: She's way cooler, and so into the trends. You see her wear her cute tank tops, or denim on denim, things like that. She changes up her wardrobe way more than he does, and she wears whatever is in the stores and on-trend. We wanted the contrast to be really strong, so we made everyone around [Chad] really hip and fun, so they're elevated, and then his dorkiness comes out way more.
"He's wearing what he thinks the cool kids would be wearing."
PS: What do you think the show's fashion says about the immigrant experience? Chad is of Persian descent, but he tries to hide his culture. He seems pretty embarrassed by it, in fact.
AT: As a first-generation Canadian with an African background, I related to the script because similar things happened to me growing up. You want to have what all the American kids have — you want to have the cool clothes, you want to have the style. You want to be just like everybody else. That was pretty much our starting point, and we approached it like a uniform. You'll notice that [Pedrad] primarily wears those polo shirts — she doesn't wear anything that gives away her culture at all. It really speaks to her desire to assimilate.
PS: What was your favorite episode to style?
AN: Definitely the K-pop episode, because Chad's group does a full-on performance, and K-pop is just so popular right now. Being able to elevate people around him and make him look a little bit more out there was very fun.
Read on to see some of our favorite stills from Chad. New episodes air Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m. ET on TBS.
![PS: What about the cool kids? How did you figure out what's trendy right now?
AN: We actually went to a local high school and sat there during lunch! Since this is current and temporary work, we really wanted to mimic what kids are doing. We wrote to the principal at Lincoln High School in Portland, OR, where the show is shot, and asked if we could come in and walk around. Seeing that anthropology side of human behavior and understanding what the groups are really helped. We noticed, for example, that so many kids right now are into the late '90s and early 2000s trends. Personally, I feel that is OK, but we also didn't want to date the work that we were doing. So we combined the stereotypes and mixed the jock vibe with what's going on right now.
PS: There's an episode where Chad is obsessed with getting a new pair of Nike LeBron sneakers, and he spends the entire episode trying to get his hands on them. How important do you think fashion was to a geeky character who's desperate to be popular?
AT: Super important — it's a status symbol. [Chad is] wearing what he thinks people should be wearing. He's wearing what he thinks the cool kids would be wearing. We gave him a personality through his clothing and through what he thinks he should have, but then he gets it so wrong, and that's where the comedy comes in.
PS: How did you create opposition between Chad and his younger, cooler sister, Niki? She's clearly the more mature one of the two.
AN: She's way cooler, and so into the trends. You see her wear her cute tank tops, or denim on denim, things like that. She changes up her wardrobe way more than he does, and she wears whatever is in the stores and on-trend. We wanted the contrast to be really strong, so we made everyone around [Chad] really hip and fun, so they're elevated, and then his dorkiness comes out way more.
"He's wearing what he thinks the cool kids would be wearing."
PS: What do you think the show's fashion says about the immigrant experience? Chad is of Persian descent, but he tries to hide his culture. He seems pretty embarrassed by it, in fact.
AT: As a first-generation Canadian with an African background, I related to the script because similar things happened to me growing up. You want to have what all the American kids have — you want to have the cool clothes, you want to have the style. You want to be just like everybody else. That was pretty much our starting point, and we approached it like a uniform. You'll notice that [Pedrad] primarily wears those polo shirts — she doesn't wear anything that gives away her culture at all. It really speaks to her desire to assimilate.
PS: What was your favorite episode to style?
AN: Definitely the K-pop episode, because Chad's group does a full-on performance, and K-pop is just so popular right now. Being able to elevate people around him and make him look a little bit more out there was very fun.
Read on to see some of our favorite stills from Chad. New episodes air Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m. ET on TBS.](https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/thumbor/O6onx6pdEUqgRpnbw3NHajhtj2I/fit-in/1024x1024/filters:format_auto-!!-:strip_icc-!!-/2021/04/22/760/n/1922564/ee18c89ef1c96f80_chad_8/i/PS-What-about-cool-kids.jpeg "PS: What about the cool kids? How did you figure out what's trendy right now?
AN: We actually went to a local high school and sat there during lunch! Since this is current and temporary work, we really wanted to mimic what kids are doing. We wrote to the principal at Lincoln High School in Portland, OR, where the show is shot, and asked if we could come in and walk around. Seeing that anthropology side of human behavior and understanding what the groups are really helped. We noticed, for example, that so many kids right now are into the late '90s and early 2000s trends. Personally, I feel that is OK, but we also didn't want to date the work that we were doing. So we combined the stereotypes and mixed the jock vibe with what's going on right now.
PS: There's an episode where Chad is obsessed with getting a new pair of Nike LeBron sneakers, and he spends the entire episode trying to get his hands on them. How important do you think fashion was to a geeky character who's desperate to be popular?
AT: Super important — it's a status symbol. [Chad is] wearing what he thinks people should be wearing. He's wearing what he thinks the cool kids would be wearing. We gave him a personality through his clothing and through what he thinks he should have, but then he gets it so wrong, and that's where the comedy comes in.
PS: How did you create opposition between Chad and his younger, cooler sister, Niki? She's clearly the more mature one of the two.
AN: She's way cooler, and so into the trends. You see her wear her cute tank tops, or denim on denim, things like that. She changes up her wardrobe way more than he does, and she wears whatever is in the stores and on-trend. We wanted the contrast to be really strong, so we made everyone around [Chad] really hip and fun, so they're elevated, and then his dorkiness comes out way more.
\"He's wearing what he thinks the cool kids would be wearing.\"
PS: What do you think the show's fashion says about the immigrant experience? Chad is of Persian descent, but he tries to hide his culture. He seems pretty embarrassed by it, in fact.
AT: As a first-generation Canadian with an African background, I related to the script because similar things happened to me growing up. You want to have what all the American kids have — you want to have the cool clothes, you want to have the style. You want to be just like everybody else. That was pretty much our starting point, and we approached it like a uniform. You'll notice that [Pedrad] primarily wears those polo shirts — she doesn't wear anything that gives away her culture at all. It really speaks to her desire to assimilate.
PS: What was your favorite episode to style?
AN: Definitely the K-pop episode, because Chad's group does a full-on performance, and K-pop is just so popular right now. Being able to elevate people around him and make him look a little bit more out there was very fun.
Read on to see some of our favorite stills from Chad. New episodes air Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m. ET on TBS.")
