Emily in Paris

About the series

Contains story spoilers.

Created by Darren Star, the 2020 romantic comedy stars Lily Collins as Emily Cooper, whose move from Chicago to Paris begins as an unexpected promotion. Her boss Madeline cannot take a position at French luxury-marketing firm Savoir, so Emily inherits the assignment. She arrives without French and assumes her enthusiasm and social-media experience will carry across cultures. At Savoir, Sylvie Grateau and colleagues Julien and Luc see an outsider proposing changes before she understands their clients or working habits. Emily's Instagram account turns the move into a public identity, but cannot solve her isolation. A chance friendship with Mindy Chen, an American nanny, gives Emily someone who understands starting over. Calls with Chicago boyfriend Doug expose their different expectations; when he declines to visit, Emily chooses Paris.

Emily's early work tests the gap between attention and trust. At a perfume launch, her pitch appeals to client Antoine Lambert, but Sylvie reassigns her after their interaction appears too familiar. Emily then turns a language mistake about a product for older women's sexual health into an Instagram post that attracts notice beyond Savoir. A perfume advertisement creates a sharper dispute: Emily calls its image of a nude model watched by clothed men sexist, while Antoine and the team see provocation. Their public poll draws engagement and criticism. Antoine welcomes the controversy; Emily, who wants universal approval, finds the reaction less comfortable. The campaign establishes her strength at making brands part of an online conversation, while leaving open whether that approach fits a luxury agency whose staff distrust the accessible style she brings from Chicago.

A hotel pitch brings Emily closer to Savoir's business and Gabriel, the chef living below her. When Sylvie and Antoine quarrel, Emily proposes pairing Chicago hotelier Randy Zimmer's new property with a signature fragrance. She misreads the date format on a prestigious dinner reservation, so Gabriel hosts the group instead; the meal helps Savoir impress Zimmer. Emily kisses Gabriel afterward, then learns that Camille, the woman she befriended at a gallery, is his girlfriend. A cosmetics event sharpens the tension between Emily's online profile and agency loyalty: her Instagram post attracts entrepreneur Olivia Thompson, who offers her a brand-ambassador role and urges her to work independently. Sylvie tells Emily to delete her account after attending the event, but has her reactivate it the next day when a client wants promotion tied to a street in Emily's post. Her instincts can serve the agency even as they irritate her boss.

Designer Pierre Cadault's first response to Emily is to dismiss her Eiffel Tower charm as unfashionable, frustrating Sylvie, who has pursued him as a client. Emily starts seeing Thomas, a professor who shares Pierre's contempt for popular taste, but leaves him after he mocks her interests and the ballet she wants to attend. At the performance, she speaks directly to Pierre: everyday consumers admire designers, she argues, and their attention helps keep high fashion relevant. The appeal earns her another meeting, not an instant conversion. Emily also encourages Mindy to sing again. Mindy had left a Chinese singing competition and stopped performing; a street performance with Emily lets her test that ability again. Each woman is beginning to build a Paris life beyond her job, while Emily's earnest approach opens doors and repeatedly exposes her to rejection.

At a watch-brand party, Emily must look after actor Brooklyn Clark and a valuable borrowed watch. Brooklyn's partying leaves Emily and Gabriel searching for her when the sponsor demands the watch back. Sylvie forces access to Brooklyn's hotel room and retrieves it. Emily turns a photo of Pierre Cadault's dress left on the floor into online attention for the designer. The evening also exposes Sylvie's hurt when Antoine arrives with his wife, who thinks their holiday is for her. After kissing Gabriel at a club, Emily pulls away because he is Camille's partner and says she wants more than a hidden, partial relationship. Emily can convert a chaotic night into a campaign image, but the moment also makes clear that the office's senior people are balancing private compromises of their own. Her growing connection with Camille now gives her choice a consequence beyond her own romantic hopes.

Camille invites Emily to her family's Champagne estate to discuss bringing the company to Savoir, unaware of the earlier kiss. Gabriel joins them, and his refusal of the family's financial help for his restaurant adds tension. At dinner, Camille's younger brother Timothée flirts with Emily and their encounter becomes sexual; the next morning she learns he is seventeen, making it an uncomfortable mistake. Camille's mother Louise still hears Emily's proposal for Champère, the family's less expensive Champagne line: market it for spraying at celebrations. Emily got the idea after seeing Mindy's wealthy friends spray bottles at a bachelorette party. Louise dislikes the approach but sees its commercial potential. Emily has found a client concept by connecting a product to how people already use it, yet the trip leaves her friendship with Camille exposed to a secret she continues to avoid discussing.

The final business crisis starts when Emily brings Pierre's dress to an American Friends of the Louvre auction. The scheduled model is unavailable, so Emily wears it; Grey Space wins the bid, then splashes gray paint across dress and model as a publicity stunt. The images spread, but Pierre feels mocked. Emily learns Grey Space intended homage and takes him a proposed collaboration, which he rejects. When Pierre cancels his Fashion Week show, Sylvie blames Emily and fires her. Emily keeps coming to Savoir while the paperwork is pending. Pierre responds by creating a new line and staging its arrival at Grey Space's event; the crowd embraces it, and Sylvie has to rehire Emily. Gabriel also secures Antoine's funding to buy his restaurant and remain in Paris. Emily and Gabriel sleep together after thinking he is leaving; Camille's request to talk leaves both romance and friendship unresolved.