Listen up: Carmela Soprano has something to say.
Edie Falco, who played the iconic mob wife on six seasons of HBO’s landmark Emmy-winning series The Sopranos, has released an exclusive statement given to The Hollywood Reporter that finds the veteran star weighing in on the viral fashion trend taking over TikTok and beyond. Dubbed the “mob wife aesthetic,” the trend boasts a return of ensembles featuring cheetah and other animal prints, blinged-out jewelry, big hair and luxe fur coats.
It began when 28-year-old Kayla Trivieri took to TikTok to declare 2024 as the year of the mob wife. “Clean girl is out, mob wife era is in … we’re wearing vintage furs all winter. We’re already seeing the cheetah prints, the sparkle, the glitz, the glam, the fur, the big hair,” she said. Then she zeroed in on images of Falco as Carmen Soprano by saying, “This is just a vibe. … Carmela Soprano walked so you bitches could run.”
It’s specifically the fur that Falco has an issue with. “The Sopranos had nothing on the violence of the fur industry which gasses, electrocutes and peels the skin off animals while they’re still alive. No matter if it’s new or vintage, torture doesn’t belong in our closets,” Falco says in the statement. “So, if you’re after the trending Carmela Soprano-inspired ‘mob wife’ aesthetic, I suggest grabbing one of the many faux furs out there and leaving animals out of it.”
The statement Falco distributed came to THR by way of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and this is no coincidence. Falco will be starring in a Sopranos-themed advertisement for PETA that is expected to debut during the upcoming Super Bowl on Feb. 11.
Though Falco is the first star to offer a pointed response to the trend, she’s far from the only Hollywood star to weigh in. After Trivieri posted the 26-second clip in early January, it went viral and inspired thousands of other videos, millions of impressions, loads of magazine headlines and lots of interview requests for Hollywood insiders involved in the making of popular mafia movies, TV shows and content. Even The Godfather filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola caught wind of it and responded on Instagram.
“The stuff that they’re doing doesn’t really have anything to do with my work,” The Sopranos costume designer Juliet Polcsa told The Washington Post, adding that she’s “flattered, nonetheless.” She added: “I think the biggest thing is, it’s not so much the clothing. It’s more about the attitude. It’s this fierceness. With Carmela, there was a strength and attitude that she had. She was not a wallflower. She was a strong woman. I think that appeals to people.”
The same story singled out Carmen Soprano and Adriana La Cerva, played by Drea de Matteo, as the “women to emulate” for the trend. De Matteo has also weighed in with an exclusive interview with The New York Post. “My DMs, my fucking text messages” were overflowing, de Matteo told Page Six editor Ian Mohr. “Every single publication has wanted a phone call, a quote.” She gives the publication a few, mostly about her wardrobe from the series (“the sluttier the better”) as well as her business ventures, which include OnlyFans and a new clothing line.