How Lili Reinhart got her hands on Jennifer Garner’s 13 Going on 30 iconic coat
The story began when a video of Savage wearing the cropped coat around New York appeared on Reinhart’s feed
Lili Reinhart turned 30 in the middle of her The Love Hypothesis press tour, but instead of marking the milestone with a traditional birthday celebration, the actress found a way to pay tribute to the romantic comedies that have inspired her promotional looks.
Reinhart tracked down the vintage Nanette Lepore coat Jennifer Garner wore in 13 Going on 30, with the exact piece becoming part of her rom-com-inspired wardrobe.
On September 17, a few days after her birthday, Reinhart was spotted in New York City wearing a brown lace-trimmed slip dress from Fleur du Mal, vintage Jimmy Choo kitten heels and an ivory polka-dotted coat. Fans of the 2004 film quickly recognised the single-breasted style as the same coat Garner wore as Jenna Rink in the film and on its original poster.
But getting the piece was far from straightforward. Violet Savage, daughter of New York-based designer Nanette Lepore and the person who protects her mother’s archives, explained to Marie Claire how the coat eventually made its way to Reinhart.
The story began when an Instagram video of Savage wearing the cropped Spring 2003 coat around New York appeared on Reinhart’s feed. Wish You Love Vintage, the archival collector that Reinhart’s stylist Ib Abdel Nasser had sourced for the vintage Jimmy Choos, then connected the pair.
With the rom-com-inspired concept behind Reinhart’s The Love Hypothesis press tour, Nasser and Savage began communicating about the coat. After Lepore “gave her blessing”, Savage loaned Reinhart what she described as the “only copy of the jacket”.
The timing was particularly fortunate. Savage told Marie Claire that she had pulled the coat from Lepore’s archives only a few months earlier and happened to have immediate access to it. It had been stored in a box that was not labelled as containing jackets.
Savage also praised Reinhart’s stylist for going directly to the source instead of attempting to recreate the iconic design. The decision not only helped create a viral fashion moment but also brought renewed attention to Lepore’s work and its appearances in popular media, including Gossip Girl and Gilmore Girls.
Lepore closed her independent design studio six years ago and is now the lead designer at Maria Cecilia. According to Savage, many of her current clients are longtime customers who have followed her work for decades. She continues to incorporate the femininity associated with her original brand through day-to-night tailoring, matching sets, bright colours and distinctive patterns.
For Reinhart, however, the story of the coat began with a simple Instagram discovery and ended with her wearing a rare piece of 13 Going on 30 history decades after it first appeared on screen.
