SPOTLIGHT
COSTUMES
original 1996 film) and he also took on
another national treasure last year when
he designed the costumes, and a range of
baby bumps, for
Bridget Jones’s Baby
.
It was the “quite incredible script”,
meanwhile, that attracted Noble to
Benedict Andrews’
Una
, starring
Rooney Mara and Ben Mendelsohn.
Based on David Harrower’s contro-
versial play
Blackbird
, the film cen-
tres on a young woman meeting a
middle-aged man 15 years after
being sexually abused by him. Set in
the modern day, the film also fea-
tures flashbacks to the 1990s. “You
can tell the difference between the
periods but I tried to make it feel
timeless as well, so it looks right
for the time but won’t date too
much,” says Noble, who took a
degree in fashion before going on to style
magazine shoots.
The Thrones effect
Alongside their lauded work on global features,
the UK’s costume designers are also making
waves in high-end TV drama. Michele Clapton,
for example, has won two Emmys for her
ground-breaking costume design on seasons
one to five of
Game of Thrones
, in which she
created a series of breathtaking looks across
the show’s different worlds. “Fantasy costume
used to be held in very little regard, but
Game of
Thrones
has taken it to a new level and had a
huge impact on the way all series are now
designed,” says Clapton, who spent seven years
designing for the show before deciding she
was ready for a new challenge.
That came in the form of Stephen Daldry and
Peter Morgan’s
The Crown
, a lavish series focus-
ing on the reign of Queen Elizabeth II being
produced for Netflix. “It’s interesting to get
back to a period piece. In some ways it’s more
restrictive, but at the same time I love the ’50s,”
says Clapton who has made almost every cos-
tume worn by the Queen and Princess Marga-
ret for the ambitious show (see page 16).
“We had to be really precise when it came to
matching things with the public footage of
events like the coronation, in order to buy our-
selves some artistic licence as to what we
thought their looks in private would be,”
continues Clapton, whose main aim is to “tell a
story” with the costumes rather than steal the
limelight. “When the Queen is in the country-
side with the dogs, the costumes almost disap-
pear, whereas at a dinner the costumes stand
out because they are actually discussed.”
Clapton credits her reputation as a colourist
and cutter to her training at the London
College of Fashion. But she is hugely
impressed by the next wave of talented
young British costume designers.“More
than ever there is so much talent
there, thanks to the UK’s great
courses and schemes,”
says Clapton, whose
other recent projects
include Asif Kapadia’s
1920-set feature
Ali and
Nino
(which shot in Azerbaijan) and Wer-
ner Herzog’s
Queen of the Desert
.
When it comes to sourcing costumes, how-
ever, designers turn regularly to UK costume
houses such as Cosprop, Sands Films and
Angels, the world’s biggest costume house
that was honoured this year with a BAFTA for
outstanding British contribution to cinema.
Angels has provided the costumes for more
than 30 Academy Award-winning titles,
including
The Great Gatsby
and
The
Grand Budapest Hotel,
as well as
launching the careers of renowned
designers such as Jacqueline Durran
and Julian Day.
Angels chairman Tim Angel
believes the UK punches
above its weight in the
world of costumes. “When
Americans come to work
over here, they’re amazed at the
quality of the people, the training,
our heritage of theatre and the skill
base. It’s an infrastructure that you
don’t get anywhere else.”
UK
“
I WAS GIVEN
THE RESOURCES
TO EXPLORE
DIFFERENT THINGS
AND COME UP
WITH AWHOLE NEWWORLD
”
Sandy Powell, costume designer on Cinderella
Powell’s designs (inset) for
Cinderella’s dress, worn by Lily
James (pictured with co-star
Richard Madden), and below
(left to right) Rooney Mara
and Cate Blanchett in Carol
(Right) Costume Designer
Michele Clapton indulged her
love for the 1950s in The Crown,
which stars Claire Foy as the
young Queen Elizabeth II
12
