Menswear with Paul McLauchlan: step into intrigue with a Kingsman's fit
Films live in our imagination in a multitude of ways: it is often how the characters speak, what they say — and, definitely what they wear. From Daniel Craig’s James Bond emerging from the crystal clear Caribbean to Giorgio Armani outfitting the debonair Richard Gere’s posturing gigolo, costume is one of the most powerful tools films have.
In many cases, men try to emulate the characters that populate our screens.
It is less common, however, to find exact replicas of costumes or close comparisons crafted with the DNA of the film.
That was until 2013 when Matthew Vaughn, the director behind , thought about how costume design played an important role in his memory of film but the clothes and accessories were never available for purchase.
While he was having a suit fitted at Huntsman on Savile Row, he thought about how the film he was developing at the time — , starring Taron Egerton and Colin Firth — a black comedy based on a comic book about nattily dressed spies in London, should have serious fashion kudos and a shoppable universe.
Vaughan’s search for a partner to produce a collection that evoked the spirit of the film led him to the executive team at online retailer, Mr Porter. He explained his idea and soon after, the Kingsman label was born. (Kingsman is the name of the tailor’s where the namesake intelligence agency bases its operations in the film.)
Vaughn and Mr Porter, along with the costume designer, Arianne Phillips (who served as the costume designer for the sequel also), collaborated on a ‘costume to collection’ in which pieces in the film were translated to clothes available to purchase — by anybody.
Since the release of the first film in 2014, Mr Porter launched 12 standalone collections under the Kingsman name, and another ‘costume to collection’ for the second film, Kingsman: The Golden Circle in 2017. It has grown to become one of the website’s best-performing luxury labels.
Next week, the third installment of the franchise will be released. The King’s Man, a prequel, stars Ralph Fiennes and Harris Dickinson as they attempt to thwart a conglomerate of history’s worst villains including Rasputin, Nicholas II of Russia, and Wilhelm II of Germany, as they plot a war to destroy millions of lives.
From traditional three-piece suits worn by the Duke of Oxford (played by Fiennes) to oiled cloth jackets inspired by biking silhouettes from the 1910s worn by Conrad (Fiennes’ protege, played by Dickinson), the film, like its predecessors undoubtedly filled with plot twists and dark humour, comes with a new wardrobe for men to seek inspiration from.
While the first two films were set in the present day, , an origin story, takes place in the early 1900s.
Vaughn enlisted Michele Clapton, known for her work on Game of Thrones, as the costume designer for the prequel.
She was drawn to the rich history of dress from the 1900s and 1910s for her work on the three-piece suits and military styles for the collection. She described the design process as a “balance of portraying historical accuracy while evoking the style and cool of the Kingsman tradition".
The trick, she said, was representing “the way of dress for men from 100 years ago, but with a 'hey, that looks fresh' contemporary spin". This manifests itself in the bold use of colour and weave in the suits, as well as checks and stripes. Moreover, one of the defining features of the fabrication is the heavy weight of the wool suiting that was used to create a strong silhouette.
The main collection, in turn, is replete with pilot jackets, oxford coats, classic military styles, oiled leather jackets.
“We had to ask ourselves 'would someone today wear this striped suit or this military-inspired jacket?' What may work well on screen might not wholly work on Mr Porter, so it was a process to unite both objectives,” said Clapton, who found that with a few tweaks of classic styles you could create something modern. These are the pieces that make the website.
Ultimately, the costume took precedence over the collection in the design process. Given the time period and commitment to historical accuracy, most of the costumes featured in the film are custom-made — from the suits to the shoes, buttons to collars.
The biggest challenge facing Clapton, Vaughn, and Mr Porter was how to evoke the spirit of Kingsman fashion without the commercial offering venturing too much into costume territory.
In order to execute the tasteful wardrobe of a spy, Mr Porter partnered Kingsman with many bespoke fashion houses including shirtmaker, Turnbull & Asser; haberdasher, Drake’s, for the ties; and shoemaker, George Cleverley, amongst nine other participating brands each with a unique proposition from umbrellas to glassware. New to the lineup is watchmaker, Jaeger-LeCoultre, who created a limited-edition watch for the film.
“We approach partner brands with the same sense of storytelling and character development that goes into the filmmaking process,” said Mr Porter’s Kershaw.
With 12 seasonal collections under their belt; three ‘costume to collection’ capsules released; and discussions of future films underway, the Kingsman universe and its appeal to men’s wardrobes is likely to continue well into the future.
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