HBOs”The Chairman’s Company” is the latest hilarious dissection of Midwestern office life from Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin, a writer who has made a specialty of capturing workplace quirks, camaraderie and hostility in shows like “Detroiters” and “I Think You Should Leave.” As RobinsonRon Trosper falls down a customer service rabbit hole and uncovers a conspiracy, the show swings from everyday reality to dark comic surrealism and steadily evolves into one of the best and most surprising TV performances in 2025.
For costume designers Nicky Smithhelping Robinson and Kanin deliver on the show’s eccentric potential meant working against her natural inclinations. “I was thinking more about practicality and less about fashion,” Smith told IndieWire. “If the clothes were wrinkled or had stains, we said, ‘let’s wash it, but not get the stains out completely. Let’s keep the holes.” If the neck was pulled out because it was a really old shirt, we thought, “Oh, perfect.”
Realism was the mandate from the beginning because Smith knew that for the show to work as it got more bizarre, there had to be a relatable baseline to start from. “Tim and Zach and (director) Andrew DeYoung wanted the show to look as real as possible, so that when you see the pranks and the hijinks, they’re not expected,” Smith said. “It was really about making the world authentic.”
To find out how Ohio workers should dress, Smith scoured LinkedIn profiles and spent a lot of time on Instagram and Flicker looking for photos of family outings. She also bought a lot of the costumes from thrift stores that had the kind of clothes she thought the characters would wear. “When it comes to the purchases of the clothes that we shopped in the stores, people of this socioeconomic background would shop in,” she said. “For example, we didn’t buy the character Mike Santini (Joseph Tudisco) nice clothes. Everything is second-hand. Some of the pants were new, but they were a bit ill-fitting, a bit baggy in the legs.”
Smith also did a lot of sparing for Robinson’s character, especially when it came to his ties. “When you find things that are thrifted, it’s good for the environment and sustainability, but it also gives you clothes that have a life to them,” Smith said. “They’re already worn, so the shoes look a little sad before the actors even put them on. It’s something we can create, but it’s almost easier and better to have it as it is when you start the journey.”
The most important thing Smith learned from his internet research was that when it came to workplace clothing, most people went for function over fashion. “It’s less about the looks, it’s more about ‘I’ve got this thing to do.’ What should I wear to do my job?” Smith said. “When you look at people in office clothes, it’s, ‘I need a sweater because it’s cold in the office. I need a comfortable shoe because I might take a lap around the parking lot at lunch for exercise, and I need a bag so I can put my computer, my lunch, and my headphones in it.”
Smith wanted to make sure the clothes looked lived in regardless of whether they were bought used or not. “We wanted the clothes to be clean, but not lose their authenticity,” she said. “If we bought things new — like some of Tim’s pajamas and nightgowns — we’d double wash them in the washing machine with Cascade to break them down, and then we wouldn’t steam them so it looks like a shirt you’ve had for a year or two.”
As Ron gets deeper and deeper into the underbelly of Ohio crime, his world begins to expand; Smith wanted to reflect that not only in his clothes, but in the people around him. “Finding who he is outside of work activates other people,” Smith said. “You start to see people around the office with more varied silhouettes, wearing sweaters and dresses that they hadn’t been wearing in the first few episodes, because as Tim expands and opens his eyes to the world, the world opens up around him.”
One of the most impressive aspects of Smith’s costume design is the fact that each character, no matter how small, has their own distinct look that still feels of a piece with the overall world. “That was the biggest challenge,” Smith said, “making sure we didn’t use the same silhouette for everyone coming into the show. As you get further into the series, you start seeing different people with different body sizes and ages, and I wanted to make sure everyone felt good in their clothes. The idea is not to look beautiful but to look authentic to the story, but I still wanted the people to feel like the clothes.”
While the workplaces on Robinson and Kanin’s shows tend to be infested with passive-aggressive insults and power plays, Smith says one of the great pleasures of working on “The Chair Company” was the sense of community fostered by the showrunners. “The joy of working on a show like this is not only that it’s really fun, but you’re working with creators who care about their crew members,” Smith said. “Tim and Zach come on set and say hi allwhether they work with them personally or not. They made sure there was a real camaraderie on set, and you don’t always get that.”
“The Chair Company” airs Sunday nights on HBO and is currently streaming on HBO Max.
