This text was initially printed when Anna Sorokin aka the “Soho Scammer” was on trial in 2019. She was convicted on eight counts, together with second-degree grand larceny, theft of companies, and first-degree tried grand larceny. Sorokin was sentenced to 4 to 12 years in jail, and was launched in February 2021 for good conduct. “The factor is, I’m not sorry,” she instructed The New York Occasions after her sentencing listening to. “I’d be mendacity to you and to everybody else and to myself if I stated I used to be sorry for something. I remorse the way in which I went about sure issues.” In response to Insider, Netflix paid Sorokin $320,000 to adapt her life story for the Shonda Rhimes-created sequence Inventing Anna. The present chronicles her upbringing, her time in New York Metropolis, and her trial—throughout which she famously wore designer clothes. Beneath, we spoke with Sorokin’s trial stylist Anastasia Walker, a former style journal staffer and celeb guide.
Anna Sorokin, alias Anna Delvey, regarded extra like a millennial shopper on Mercer Avenue than an accused prison in Manhattan Supreme Courtroom this week. Whereas many defendants alter their look to indicate their previous, nefarious methods are far behind, the alleged grifter—who reportedly duped Manhattanites into believing she was a German heiress for practically 4 years—did the precise reverse.
On Wednesday, she swapped out her drab Rikers uniform for a plunging Michael Kors shift costume. The next day, she paired a sheer black Saint Laurent high with Victoria Beckham trousers. She accessorized the nerdy-chic ensemble with a black choker necklace and her signature thick Céline frames.
It did not take lengthy for Sorokin’s trial appears to get an Instagram account. Twitter customers described her courtroom aesthetic as “iconic.” Tabloid headlines ignored the costs in opposition to her (grand larceny and theft of companies totaling $275,000), as a substitute specializing in her “unbelievable jail makeover.”
However who was sending Saint Laurent to Sorokin in jail? We confirmed the 28-year-old enlisted help from Anastasia Walker, a former Glamour journal staffer who has dressed everybody from Courtney Like to G-Eazy.
“Anna and I talked on the telephone about what she was occupied with carrying,” Walker tells ELLE.com. “I could not present her images, however as individuals occupied with style, we spoke in references in regards to the themes she needed to come back by [in her outfits]. I chosen some timeless items, provided that all the things is so public at the moment and [trial] images may be saved, doubtlessly, endlessly.”
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Walker provided to assist after The New York Submit reported final week that Sorokin’s authorized crew “panicked” about her outfit, fearful a taupe corrections uniform would insinuate guilt. Sorokin’s lawyer, Todd Spodek, had an affiliate hit a close-by H&M to “spend $200 on one thing that didn’t scream ‘inmate,’” in keeping with the outlet. The affiliate got here again with a good black blazer, capris, beige sweater, and white sneakers.
The H&M outfit was high quality, however Walker felt Sorokin deserved to be tried carrying designer labels. Walker’s shut buddy Neff Davis—described by Paper Magazine as Sorokin’s solely true buddy in New York—related her to Spodek.
“[Sorokin’s case] is attention-grabbing and distinctive, however the principle cause I made a decision to assist out was due to our mutual buddy,” Walker says. “I am at all times joyful to assist, and I really like what I do. If it really works and I could make it occur, then why not?”
As a former style journal editor, Walker was used to aiding on cowl shoots—not styling micro-celebrity alleged criminals. Over the telephone, she and Sorokin determined an all-black ensemble would ship a sartorial message of seriousness. Plus, Walker opined, a monochrome look can be “timeless,” an vital consideration provided that Sorokin’s trial pictures would doubtless seem within the tabloids (they did), and that her fashion may doubtlessly play an enormous half within the forthcoming Netflix undertaking about her.
“I actually tried to deal with traditional silhouettes and traditional items normally,” Walker says. “[The all-black] could change sooner or later—we could go lighter. It’s mysterious stylish, and though it is getting numerous media consideration, that is nonetheless her actual life. Folks have made feedback that she does not take life severely, however to me black is only a sturdy and highly effective shade. It is critical.”
Walker despatched the Victoria Beckham slacks and Saint Laurent sheer shirt to Sorokin per week earlier than she was set to seem in Manhattan Supreme Courtroom. The choker was “all Anna’s thought,” Walker says, and her shopper already had the Céline glasses, which she believes enable her to retain “some a part of her previous self [identity].”
“These are her signature, if you’ll,” Walker says. “Or made to be seen as such.”
Logistically, it is difficult dressing Sorokin, who stays in jail with out bond. “She has this very nice hair shade and I really feel like lighter colours will actually play up on that as nicely, so after this primary week we will discover what else could also be obtainable. However it’s nonetheless jail, and there is difficult logistics of getting her garments in jail,” Walker says. “There is a system of what goes in and what’s allowed and what’s not. So, we are going to simply see what we will do throughout the confinement of coverage… [There is a] very actual chance and chance that if one thing does not fall throughout the parameters of what they deem acceptable or protected it is not going to be allowed.”
Sorokin has been held at Rikers since she was charged with grand larceny and theft of companies totaling $275,000 in 2017. Jessica Pressler’s Could 2018 New York Journal article detailed her notorious rise to socialite standing in New York; Sorokin spent lavishly on holidays and clothes regardless of not having the fortune she stated she did.
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Walker is hesitant to disclose the precise particulars of her association with Sorokin. Nevertheless, she disclosed that she’s getting paid for the gig—they usually’ll proceed working collectively sooner or later.
“[Anna] may be very fortunate to have a crew and those who help her,” Walker says. “There are such a lot of individuals that do not.”
Supply: elle
