The mere idea of relocating Elle Woods, the most legal—and most California—of blondes, seems and is preposterous. And yet that is the exact premise of the Legally Blonde prequel series, Elle, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video today.

The show is as fun and bubbly as one would anticipate and hope it to be, but it is its fashion that takes the spotlight alongside its star, Lexi Minetree, who settles nicely into Reese Witherspoon’s shoes. The costumes, which range from vintage Chanel to custom-made pieces and contemporary fashion, were designed by Sara Byblow, whose name you will certainly hear more following her work on Elle.

Byblow, who first worked with Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine production company while doing the costumes for Surface, partnered with original Legally Blonde costumer Sophie De Rakoff for the first episodes of the season. “It felt like a passing of the torch,” Byblow says as we speak days before the release of the show.

As charming as Byblow’s architecture of young Elle Woods’s style is, with its junior-prep silhouettes and many shades of pink, it’s the contrast of this effervescent character against the backdrop of a rainy, grungy Seattle—it’s the 1990s, after all—that is the most impactful. “Pink is not a personality,” a new classmate tells Elle in an attempt to take her down. As it turns out, it very much is. Below, Byblow and I chat about how she put these two disparate worlds together and why she chose not to reuse any clothing Witherspoon wore.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Vanity Fair: I have to start with this. What was your reaction when you heard about the Seattle of it all?

Sara Byblow: Obviously, Elle Woods is the character of your dreams, but the Seattle…it’s so fun. I mean, 1995 Seattle was like the land of grunge music and street fashion, so to be able to get both ends of the spectrum, it was literally a dream job. I was screaming when I read it. It was perfect.

You worked with Sophie De Rakoff, who did the costuming for the films, for the first few episodes. What was that like?

One of my biggest worries was that the character is so iconic. Those are huge shoes to fill, so having the opportunity to team up with Sophie at the beginning was amazing. I really wanted to do it justice. It really feels like a passing-of-the-torch moment. Reese [Witherspoon] is passing this character to Lexi [Minetree] and to the next generation. It really felt like Sophie was passing the torch to me when we worked together at the start so I could also bring it to the next generation.

I was going to ask if you felt at all daunted by the legacy. It’s just such an iconic character and story, and it has, similarly to Sex and the City, such a recognizable fashion vernacular. How did you feel about approaching the legacy, and were there any liberties you took or things you felt really attached to?