London Fashion Week has kicked off in the nation's capital, and with sartorial elegance at a premium, we got to thinking. Which of this year's movies are poised to showcase dapper threads from Hollywood's leading costume designers? Scroll down to find out.
1. Cyrano
- Costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini
- Released 25th February
Director Joe Wright stages a lavish musical adaptation of the classic Cyrano de Bergerac tale. Peter Dinklage stars as the pining lover Cyrano who extends his poetry to his great love Roxanne (Haley Bennett) via Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) Given the film's period setting, militaristic themes and emphasis on theatricality, there were plenty of opportunities for costumer Massimo Cantini Parrini to paint with bold colours. In fact, he and his team (who have collectively been Oscar-nominated for their efforts) created more than 700 costumes from scratch.
“I wanted to create a completely new world and a unique film,” he tells Variety, “and this would have been hard to achieve using hired material.”
2. The Batman
- Costume designer Jacqueline Durran
- Released 4th March
The ubiquitous and Oscar-winning Jacqueline Durran is one of Hollywood's most versatile and dynamic costumers. In a relatively short space of time, she's jumped from Little Women to 1917, Denis Villeneuve's awe-inspiring Dune to Matt Reeves' The Batman. From styling the world of Arrakis to inventing a brand-new Bat-suit for the role's latest incumbent Robert Pattinson – now that takes a heap of technical skill, not to mention imagination.
“I think it’s all about new worlds, really," Durran told Deadline back in 2020. "What Matt Reeves’ Gotham is going to look like, and what the world that he’s creating around Batman is going to be, working that out—working out the characters, and the logic of that world—that’s the attraction of it. It is like a myth, isn’t it? It’s something that just repeats, and you can repeat it, because you can change it."
3. Downton Abbey: A New Era
- Costume designers Maja Meschede and Anna Robbins
- Released 29th April
One always comes to Downton Abbey expecting period finery. In this sequel to the hit Downton Abbey movie, the narrative splits in two. While Downton is besieged by a filmmaking crew, Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) sets off to the south of France to investigate the mysterious background of the joyously acidic Violet (Maggie Smith). Two costume designers, Maja Meschede and Anna Robbins, were hired to bring the movie's turn of the 20th century aesthetic to the screen.
Robbins was the costume designer for the initial Downton Abbey movie, and also styled the original series from season five onwards.
4. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
- Costume designer Graham Churchyard
- Released 6th May
Director Sam Raimi uncorks a host of alternate dimensions in the upcoming sequel to Doctor Strange. Marvel's next blockbuster picks up the thread of Spider-Man: No Way Home as the Sorceror Supreme (Benedict Cumberbatch) must reckon with the consequences of his multiverse tampering. The movie's exuberant visual aesthetic extends, naturally, to the multifaceted costume designs, including Strange's signature collared cape.
At the same time, we can expect costumer Graham Churchyard (Captain America: The First Avenger; Rogue One) and his team to really open up the taps as the possibilities of the multiverse become evident. The trailers already make clear the aesthetic difference between Strange and his evil alternate, Strange Supreme, who looks to be cloaked in more sombre colours.
5. Elvis
- Costume designer Catherine Martin
- Released 24th June
It's a big ask to style and design the entirety of Elvis Presley's career, but Catherine Martin is well-schooled in the art of enormous movie productions. Along with her husband Baz Luhrmann, who helms the Elvis biopic, Martin has let her imagination run riot on the extravagant likes of Romeo & Juliet, Moulin Rouge! and The Great Gatsby.
We already know from the Elvis trailer that The King's signature white outfit, spored by actor Austin Butler, is evident, but there will be a heck of a lot of costume changes in this decade-spanning drama, which co-stars Tom Hanks as Presley's controlling manager Colonel Tom Parker.
Which of the above movies will showcase the nattiest threads? Let us know @Cineworld.
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