The Tamesis
opponentDominic Treadwell-Collins’s brilliant adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s hilarious comedy knows its appeal – rich sex, endless longing, jaw-dropping boardroom action, and unapologetically swaggering ’80s costumes, courtesy of British TV veteran Ray Holman.broadchurch, flea bag, doctor who). Now the talented costume designer is back to dress all of our favorite characters – Bella Maclean’s wide-eyed Taj O’Hara, Nafessa Williams’ no-nonsense TV producer Cameron Cook, David Tennant’s smarmy CEO Tony Badingham, Alex Hassell’s charismatic MP Rupert Campbell-Blake, Aidan Turner’s dashing journalist Declan O’Hara – in an exciting second installment.
The report finds two factions at war: Tony is determined to remain in charge of TV network Corinium, while his rivals, the upstarts of the Adventurers, Rupert, Declan and self-made businessman Freddie Jones (Danny Dyer), face an uphill battle. As a result, all of us ambitious power players are dressing murderously—with bigger shoulder pads, sharper suits, and more eye-popping embellishments. Paired with hair slicked back towards the sky, huge earrings and bright red lips, it was stunning.
Here, Holman discusses the ’80s icons on his mood board, the designer archives he dug into, and Fashion Covers provide inspiration.
Fashion: Season 1 opponent So popular. Does this mean more designers will want to lend you some pieces from their archives this time around?
Ray Holman: Well, when we came back, I said to the executives and directors, “Can I continue to keep the naturalistic look?” And they said yes. It was a decision that made the world real. Yes, some of it comes from designers. Obviously I have to make sure one brand isn’t favored over others, but we’ve had great support. In the case of Rupert, Dunhill asked me to go into their archives from the 1980s and find three blazers and a suit. Mulberry also sent me a box of original classic 80s bags – saddle bags and evening bags. Ray-Ban sent me a bunch of sunglasses, Longines and Omega gave us watches, and Burberry helped. We just have to be careful how we use them, mixing them with non-designer pieces and everyday clothing.
