The key to Success(ion)
HIT HBO DRAMA Succession has got it all: sex, death, money, politics and a dysfunctional family to rival Hamlet’s.
It’s also got clothes that, instead of being window dressing to the drama, have become cultural moments in their own right. You can now buy canvas totes printed with the insult ‘ludicrously capacious’ – a nod to Bridget, cousin Greg’s one-time date, who has the gall to carry a bag so ‘gargantuan’ in proportion that Tom, a former interloper himself, asks whether it also contains her shoes for the subway – and the phrase ‘stealth wealth’ is now used to describe anything from a car to a holiday resort.
The show’s costume designer, Michelle Matland, did her research by staking out Wall Street, watching what city workers wore as they stepped out of their town cars or emerged from the subway. ‘You could see the difference,’ she says. ‘You can’t tell from 25ft away but you can certainly tell from 10, who has money and who doesn’t. Who’s got three cell phones and who has one? Who has an assistant following them with a coffee and who doesn’t?’ Michelle masterfully wove these observations into the costumes so that every pair of shoes – Kendall’s Lanvin sneakers, for example, which embarrass him thoroughly in the first season – tells a story. Here, she shares the behind-the-scenes details of the fashion moments that stole the show.
SHIV’S MACKAGE COAT
‘It’s her way of trying to make [Lukas] Matsson feel that she’s comfortable in that tech world because he runs around barefoot. In the first season, she wanted to be outside the family and dressed in democratic clothing so that it didn’t look like she was as affluent as she was. She wanted to separate herself from the money. Then she went into the corporate world and wanted to elevate herself back up to the family. She’s constantly changing.’
GERRI’S WEDDING HAT
‘That day it was about 110°F! The hat was, on a practical level, [so she didn’t] pass out! Hats also show a certain royalty factor like we saw at the coronation. If anyone’s transformed, it’s Gerri. I think we need to recognise that her hair has changed, her make-up, her jewellery. We’ve seen the arc of her clothes go from being family-business suits to, basically, form-fitting scuba gear. It’s that strong.’
BRIDGET’S BURBERRY CHECK BAG
‘The bag is obviously very middle class. It’s designer for a certain woman, a little bit more accessible than Saint Laurent, which she wouldn’t know nor could she have afforded. She’s not going to Bergdorf’s. She’s going to Macy’s. For her, that bag is aspirational but to somebody else, it’s middle of the road.’
LUKAS’ NEEDLES BOMBER JACKET
‘I think it’s almost a laugh. He’s saying, “I can do anything and it will be right. I can go barefoot, I can wear a gold jacket.” He and his buddies are all going to mock the Roys. I think it’s kind of tongue-in-cheek. He’s saying,”i’m untouchable. Your last name is Roy. But I’m the king.”’
ROMAN’S RALPH LAUREN CARDIGAN
‘I think there is a certain reminiscence of his father. Of all the siblings, he is the most committed to his father’s memory. I think it’s also an armour because this is the darkest place he’s been. Losing his father was such a trauma, and so unexpected, that he needed something that would create a veneer to stabilise him in the memory of his dad.’
KENDALL’S FLIGHT JACKET
‘The idea behind [the jacket] was Top Gun. That iconic image that everybody knows. At first we thought it was never going to fly, but actually, I think it really helped tell the story. It was hilarious to be able to see him up there selling this pitch. Jeremy really involves himself in all the details, whether it be a watch, a baseball cap, he will throw out ideas, sometimes in the middle of the night.’
TOM’S BRUNELLO CUCINELLI GILET
‘It’s a reference to what he says all the way through, which is that he aspires to the wealth and power that he sees [in] Logan. For the first seasons, that aspiration is not met. He is still the outside man. Then slowly, over the years, Logan gives him more autonomy. When he says that line, “I love my suits, I love my wealth,” he is finally saying to [Shiv], to himself, “it’s OK for me to be vain, it’s OK to spend money. I have it now. I have some power in the room and you can’t diminish me any more”. He was buying $1,000 suits in the beginning. They’re now $5,000. He still can’t get it quite right.’