GIRLS ON FILM
The new breed of onscreen (and fashion) heroines.
THERE’S A MOMENT IN THE OUTRAGEOUSLY BRILLIANT TV show Killing Eve that typifies the complicated relationship of the two female protagonists. It involves a dress. Or, more specifically, a silk dress by Roland Mouret. Villanelle – a psychopathic assassin with a taste for French designers (played by Jodie Comer) – taunts her adversary, Eve Polastri – an unglamorous MI5 agent (played by Sandra Oh) – by stealing her suitcase and replacing everything in it with gift-wrapped designer pieces.
While she desperately hates Villanelle, Polastri can’t help but be seduced by the stylish assassin she’s investigating. When she tries on the dress and marvels at how good she looks in it, she’s flirting with a version of herself that harnesses her sexuality. “The discussions really centred around the contrast between Eve’s lack of interest in her appearance and Villanelle’s hyper-awareness of the effect she is having on those around her,” says Phoebe De Gaye, the show’s lauded costume designer. “Over the course of the series, Villanelle’s interventions lead Eve to discover her womanly qualities, and perhaps allow Villanelle to discover her humanity.”
The costumes in the show became an immediate sensation, with Villanelle being revered as one of the breakout style icons of 2018. Every publication from The Guardian to New
York Magazine and Vanity Fair chronicled the character’s sartorial choices, spawning “get the look” galleries of highstreet alternatives. It’s really no surprise. De Gaye aimed to keep the character’s personal style ambiguous (“I was hoping it would be difficult for viewers to pin down her look because she’s using clothes to experiment with different personas”) which meant viewers were privy to an ingenious mixing of aesthetics. A patterned Dries Van Noten power suit one day, a pretty Miu Miu day dress the next. “She doesn’t necessarily go for the most expensive clothes as a way of chasing status,” says De Gaye. “She’s like a magpie – she chooses what catches her eye at any given moment.”
Killing Eve marks the latest in a crop of hyper-stylish films and TV shows with engaging female protagonists, including 2017’s Atomic Blonde, in which Charlize Theron plays an elite MI6 spy with a penchant for John Galliano-era Dior; Luca Guadagnino’s 2018 remake of Suspiria, which sees Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnson and Mia Goth occupy a dance academy-cum-witch coven in custom Francesco Russo shoes; or Ocean’s 8, with its Alberta Ferretti, Valentino and archival Givenchy.
This month marks the release of Captain Marvel (in cinemas March 8) – the first female-led film in the Marvel Universe (which has spawned 14 male-led releases since 2014), starring Oscar winner Brie Larson as the superhero. As expected, every part of the costuming process was analysed, debated upon and pulled-apart by Twitter as the first stills trickled out of the set and found their way onto the internet. There was backlash when the suit appeared green in some photos, instead of the blue and red of the original comics
THERE’S A NEW CROP OF COMPLEX CHARACTERS AND SELF-POSSESSED HEROINES HITTING OUR SCREENS – AND THEIR COSTUMES ARE JUST AS POWERFUL
(film buffs are speculating there are two suits, with the green one relating to the history of Captain Marvel himself), while debate raged in the comic book community about whether Larson should have worn the peroxide blonde mohawk helmet the superhero wears in many of the comics (she wears it in the trailer). The creation of the costume was a painstaking process that took Sanja Milkovic Hays – an industry veteran who has worked on Star Trek and Total Recall – more than a year. “When I finally put it all on together I was just staring at myself in the mirror and I did get emotional. I was like… This is crazy!” Larson told Entertainment Tonight.
Of course, costume design has always been an essential element of TV or film – but these movies and shows feel different. Not only because the end product is so much more finessed than the heist/spy/ horror movies of the past, but also because the clothing is literally written into the plot. Theron makes a show of how badass she is when she methodically removes her patent leather red Christian Dior stilettos before beating the hell out of some bad guys in Atomic Blonde; the heist crew work together to steal a multimillion dollar Cartier diamond necklace while dressed in custom designer looks at the “Met Gala” in Ocean’s 8. In one of the most iconic looks from Killing Eve, Villanelle dons a bubblegum pink, puff-of-tulle dress by British designer Molly Goddard for a forced visit to a psychologist (accessorised with chunky Balenciaga boots, of course) – a sartorial reminder of how ridiculous she considers the whole enterprise to be.
None of this is a coincidence. As female roles in Hollywood have transitioned from tokenistic to increasingly intricate and complex, costume designers are being given more room to experiment. Designers are hired to bring new dimensions to a character, so the more depth and complexity the character has, the more interesting and engaging their costume will be. “Generations of costume designers have been working away at producing costumes that define characters with depth, so there’s nothing new there!” says De Gaye. “It’s certainly true that television, specifically, is evolving into a very exciting medium with ever more ambitious projects, and perhaps the female characters themselves are becoming more complex than they were at one time. This presents a challenge I’m sure many costume designers working today relish.”
You don’t have to be a fashion obsessive to applaud the fact that the film and television industry is starting to take its female characters more seriously. Style chops aside, productions like Killing Eve and Captain Marvel prove strong female characters are more than a passing fad. And in a world that tends to underestimate or play down the power of clothing, it’s exciting to see the full storytelling potential of fashion brought to life. If we can now enjoy brilliant work by brilliant women writers, directors and actresses, while also name-spotting new-season Chloé, what’s not to love? We strongly suggest you use a fictional assassin as your sartorial mood board going into autumn. Stella Mccartney’s long-sleeved mint-green dress paired with heavy-duty footwear is an unequivocal #mood. A feminine ruffled Celine top should be worn with a micro mini and buckled boots, if you ask us. And a pretty lemon Proenza Schouler midi-skirt, worn with a fierce leather shirt, is among the chicest get-ups a working woman can muster. Just hold off on assassinating mobsters with a lethal hairpin while you wear them.
“We strongly suggest you use a FICTIONAL ASSASSIN as your SARTORIAL MOOD BOARD going into autumn”