Caroline LEAPER and… Helen
Costume designer Vicky Gill tells Caroline Leaper about making stars shine in a pandemic
In normal years, the Baftawinning costume designer Vicky Gill runs a well-oiled machine behind the scenes at Strictly Come Dancing. Her preparations for a new series of the hit BBC show would begin in May, and she would kit out the latest cast of dancers in more than a thousand Spandex and rhinestone creations over the months that followed.
Her work is always complex and fast-paced, meeting changing briefs weekly once the live shows kick off. She must deliver high-performance costumes that work for the sporting requirements of the dance genre, as well as offering the wow factor on screen – all on a BBC budget.
But this year’s coronavirus crisis has presented a set of challenges the likes of which Gill has never faced in her eight years as lead costume designer, dressing more than 200 episodes to date. At first, she admits, she wasn’t sure if the show would go on at all.
“Nothing has been the same,” she explains. “Deliveries of materials were later than normal, the beads for the launch episode blue dresses weren’t available in time. Everything has changed in how we work, producing garments week-by-week as well as dealing with fittings backstage.
“But the restrictions have pushed us to problem-solve and think creatively. It has taken a fantastic effort from everyone involved.”
Gill and Jane Marcantonio Kubicki, the BBC’S wardrobe supervisor, devised a plan to ensure that as many of her team as possible could work safely towards the slightly delayed launch live show last Saturday. The opening night for any new Strictly series is always the biggest undertaking for Gill, with ensemble group dances by the professionals as well as the full roster of contestants competing.
As soon as the eliminations begin, the costuming team usually find a rhythm of their own, developing new weekly outfits with Croydon-based s supplier DSI, marrying up the m music and set concepts with the te television producers, and l liaising with the dancers on c choreography and fittings, to bring all elements of the production together. This year, a lot of the work had to start on Gill’s home kitchen table. “My husband went mad at the mannequins, fa fabric, machines and mess I created,” she admits. In August, though, she had the opportunity p to quarantine for a month with five s seamstresses from her team, p plus the full cast of p professional dancers, at The Manor hotel in Elstree. This allowed them to film 14 group ensemble dances in one go, taking pressure off the crew for later weeks and allowing them to minimise the backstage costume changes at the live shows.
“We shielded for two weeks and were tested twice before entering the hotel,” explains Gill. “I uprooted my studio, taking everything I thought we would need – the staff thought we were joking when we asked them to help us drag a couple of industrial sewing machines into their conference room.
“It was super-productive: we made around 300 garments for all group numbers. Being in proximity to everyone with no restriction was brilliant. I don’t think we would have pulled it off without this process.
“As always with Strictly, we had lots of laughs along the way. Gorka [Márquez], Gio [Pernice] and Gina [Birch, producer] each had birthdays during this time, so it was nice to be able to celebrate.”
While face-to-face fittings were able to take place for the professional cast, this year’s celebrity recruits were not so lucky. Usually, Gill gets to do her first briefing with each contestant in July, and has several weeks to coax them into wearing copious spangles. This year, it all happened on video calls from Gill’s son’s bedroom (“the only quiet place I could escape the family”).
“Our celebrities had to do a Zoom chat with me while I was shielding before going to the hotel bubble,” she explains. “With no meeting in person this year, this was the best we could do.
“My first call was to Ranvir [Singh]. She was very nervous of the process, as many normally are, but for the launch show she looked fierce and fabulous. Everyone was so lovely, it made me excited to get stuck into the series, and determined to succeed in getting it up and running.”
For the first dances last Saturday, the glitter was back and the production was seamless. The audience could never have known what had gone on behind the scenes to make it all happen.
Caroline Quentin’s “Forties-inspired day dress” for her American smooth was a highlight, as were Jamie Laing’s spray-on white jeans (in reality, made from sports Lycra) teamed with a matching jacket for his cha-cha.
“We did think his white jeans were a little on the tight side,” Gill toys, “but next to Karen, looking fabulous in her crystal-encrusted playsuit, it would have been wrong to do anything else.”
The costumes featured on last Saturday’s show were also a small part of Strictly history. Boxer Nicola Adams and her partner Katya Jones became the first same-sex couple to dance on the show, wearing coordinating monochrome waistcoat-suits to perform their quickstep. Adams had particularly requested that she didn’t want to wear a dress, and Gill says that it was easy to design a trouser-based look instead. “We always try to work with shapes and style lines which make the celebrity feel comfortable, so Nicola is no different in that respect.”
Gill admits that she was deliberating up until the last moment as to whether she had made the right choices about the jewels on the design – such is her attention to detail. “We are limited for time and contact this series, and I would be lying if I said we weren’t nervous going into week one.
“Had we made the right choices for everyone?” she says. “Katya and Nicola’s garments were left on the mannequin at 10pm on Friday night, unsure if we had all the embellishments quite right. But with fresh eyes on Saturday morning, it was all great and ready for the show.”
To have made it through the first live show, Gill says, is a relief. She and her colleagues have worked tirelessly to ensure there is no compromise on the quality and experience for viewers – living away from their families and pushing themselves to get the job done. She, clearly, treasures her job.
“It has been challenging, and we aren’t over the finish line yet, but I am happy with what we have achieved so far,” she says. “We are incredibly lucky to be doing the job we do, we must keep smiling and finding solutions. I hope we are flying the flag for the arts and entertainment industries. Don’t give up on us and tell us to retrain yet…”
Moreover, in such a miserable year, the audience needs the Strictly sparkle perhaps more than ever.
“It provides fantastic Saturday night entertainment, something for everyone,” Gill says. “Especially now the dark nights are setting in, we can forget about Covid for a couple of hours at least. There are tough times out there for everyone, but we have to keep finding the joy.”