COSTUME DESIGN EVOLUTION
THERE were a number of people who wore medieval inspired outfits at last week’s Met Gala. Zendaya Coleman and Shailene Woodley did Joan of Arc, Katy Perry and Olivia Munn wore chain mail, while both Munn and Priyanka Chopra had embellished gold chain-mail headgear.
Game of Thrones has been showing us the best of medieval fashion since 2011 and with the show coming to an end next year, it’s going to be a while before we get a TV series that has us fascinated by every aspect of the show.
Kickstart’s Camelot is based on TH White’s 1958 book, The Once and Future King, which many regard as the best King Arthur story. The musical is directed by Steven Stead, who also stars as King Arthur, with Mervyn Mcmurtry as assistant director. Jessica Sole stars as Queen Guinevere, a role made famous by Julie Andrews in the original Broadway show. Lyle Buxton is
Sir Lancelot and Peter Court plays Merlin/king Pellinor, with Nathan Kruger as the evil Mordred and Anne-marie Clulow as the magical wood nymph, Nimue.
Greg King is on set design and Terrence Bray is on wardrobe. He has designed some Game of Thrones-worthy costumes. I spoke to him about being inspired by the show and how he made it modern to suit today’s audience.
It’s not Bray’s first rodeo with Kickstart productions. “We normally work together for their productions that will need more fashion than costume,” he said.
For Camelot, he was inspired by Game of Thrones and the medieval period. “I really enjoy the period that Camelot is set in and so we looked at similar productions set in the same time period, like Game of Thrones and Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword for costume ideas.”
How did he manage to get the medieval meets modern mix perfect for the costumes? “I think it’s more to do with knowing the characters and what they represent and believe in. It’s more about the character than the costume and when you have the essence of the character and who they really are and how they fit into the story, you are able to create a garment that fits the character.”
Bray and his team worked for two months to get all the costumes ready.
“We lost count of how many garments we did, but it’s well over 100. It’s a major production with more than 16 cast members, so you can imagine.”
Jessica Sole, Cameron Botha, Tshepo Ncokoane and Schoeman Smit, starred in this shoot as Queen Guinevere and three of the Knights of the Round Table.
Garments were designed and styled by Terrence Bray, with art direction.
Kickstart’s Camelot is on until June 3 at the Elizabeth Sneddon, UKZN.