Being crowned Playmate of the Year is a special honor, so it’s only natural that the occasion calls for some very special clothing.
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For our newest Playmate, Gillian Nation, that meant two outfits: A signature bunny suit, as well as a stunning dress. To create a one-of-a-kind dress, PLAYBOY went to the PLAYBOY archives for inspiration and came up with something special: the dress Playmate of the Year Monique St. Pierre wore for the June 1979 cover.
To create a modern version, we asked the help of award-winning costume designer Lauren St. Laurent, who also designs costumes for Marvel and Disney films as well as for celebrities such as Kim Kardashian. In a chat with PLAYBOY, she explained how she took inspiration for the dress and created the one Gillian wore to PLAYBOY’s BIG Game party recently held in New Orleans.
The dress St. Pierre wears on the cover is beaded, which St. Laurent described as both time-consuming and pricey to create. Since time was of the essence, she opted for a different approach, hand-drawing the bunny head logo and using rhinestones to recreate it.
After having Gillian come in for a fitting, St. Laurent spent two days applying the rhinestones by hand, spending about 12 hours total time. Four days after Gillian’s initial fitting, the dress was done and ready to shine.
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St. Laurent, who once founded her own corset company, also works on all official bunny costumes for the west coast-which explains why that classic bunny suit still has the perfect flattering fit.
