FASHION CONSULTANT ON HIS LOVE OF TARTAN, T
When Oscar nominee Brendan Fraser steps out on Hollywood’s famous red carpet, he will be dressed by a stylist who has fallen in love with Black Watch tartan suits, colourful kilts and even a Sherlock Holmesstyle tweed cape.
Sam Spector, the stylist responsible for the outfits worn by Alan Cumming on the US version of hit show The Traitors, is dressing Fraser for this year’s movie awards season.
As the fashion consultant puts the finishing touches to the much less flamboyant outfits being worn by Brendan for the Oscars and other related high-profile events, he said working with tartan and tweed had been a lot of fun.
Sam, who styles stars including Daniel Radcliffe, Neil Patrick Harris and Andy Samberg, said: “I’m so lucky to be in a job that I love doing so much. One day I’m styling Alan Cumming for a murder mystery show in a Scottish castle and another I’m working with Oscar nominee Brendan Fraser for awards season.
“I didn’t know a lot about Scottish dress, so did my research and now I love it. Who knows where I may use it again?” Sam, who studied fashion design at an art and design college in New York, had never worked with Cumming before when he was invited to style the X-Men star for The Traitors. While Claudia Winkleman hosted the UK version of the game show – which is set at Ardross Castle in the Highlands – Cumming
Jenny Morrison
was hired for the first American series of the show.
Each episode of the programme – which is airing in the US and available on iPlayer in this country – has seen Aberfeldy-born Cumming dress in one exuberant outfit after another.
Almost all have had a Scottish theme and received glowing reviews in everywhere from the New York Times to men’s fashion bible GQ.
Sam, 45, said: “Alan was just one of the best people I’ve ever worked with. He’s so collaborative.
“When I got a call asking if I would be interested in working on this project with him, I jumped at the opportunity. He’s such an amazing actor.
“We had a conversation with the producers about how we all saw him being dressed. We wanted to respect the Scottish theme of the show and the location in Scotland where it was being filmed but we also wanted to throw in some men’s ‘ dandy’ fashion too.
“I’m American and I didn’t want to offend anyone with my not-such-great knowledge of Scottish wear, so I did a lot of research – and, no, that didn’t include watching Braveheart.
“I loved discovering all about the different tartans and plaids, the kilts, the fly plaids and the brooches. I wanted to be respectful of all of that but also playful at the same time.”
Sam was invited by Cumming to raid his personal wardrobe for any clothing that might suit what they wanted.
He said: “I went through Alan’s closet because he happened to own a lot of stuff that might work. It was filled with great things, including a lot of tartan and plaid, but there was also some amazing other pieces he’d acquired
I loved ing discover the all about tartans different the and plaids, the kilts and brooches