When we bid farewell to Friends back in 2004, the future of Rachel Green’s (played by Jennifer Aniston) career was uncertain. Did she move to Paris to pursue her dream job at Louis Vuitton? Did she stay in New York and return to her old job at Ralph Lauren? Over the last 17 years, fans of the show had plenty of time to come up with their own theories. And apparently, so has Aniston.
In an interview with People, which was released on Wednesday ahead of the May 27 Friends reunion, Aniston shared what she imagines Rachel would be doing today. “I would like to have maybe started a clothing line of my own, and it’s sort of a small franchise,” Aniston said about her character. “Like a Nili Lotan.”
Now, I can’t be the only one who didn’t see this coming. A clothing line, sure, though, personally, I imagined Rachel as more of the behind-the-scenes type than a designer. But Nili Lotan. Don’t get me wrong, the New York-based designer carries an enviable selection of elevated basics, but it wouldn’t be the brand I envisioned for Rachel. Instead, I pictured Rachel becoming a Ralph Lauren lifer, her closet a shrine to the Americana brand’s classic, preppy pieces that she acquired over the course of her time there. Today, she’d pair long-sleeved, cashmere sweater dresses with fitted white button-downs (as was done for the brand’s fall ‘20 collection) for work, and wear vintage polos with baggy jeans and sneakers on the weekend.
If she were to launch her own brand after becoming Ralph’s right-hand (wo)man, it’d be something along the lines of Khaite or Coperni — tailor-forward, elevated labels with cult followings — but with a nostalgic, sporty touch a la Aimé Leon Dore.
To see what Aniston saw though, I logged onto Nili Lotan’s website. And, as much as I hate to admit that Aniston knows the character she played for a decade more than I do, she may be right. After scrolling through page after page of slouchy cargo pants in faded, vintage colorways, shrunken T-shirts, and floor-length satin slip dresses, I could easily imagine Rachel in all these pieces. Hell, if the “The One with Phoebe’s Cookies” episode, when Rachel teaches Joey (Matt LeBlanc) how to sail, was filmed today, Aniston would be wearing these white trousers from the brand.
And that, my friends, is what you call closure.
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