“The Gentlemen” is a Guy Ritchie project — of course, style is substance. And nowhere is that more powerful than in the clothes worn by the Horniman family.
Set in the same world as Ritchie’s 2019 film of the same name, the Netflix series places Theo James’ Eddie Horniman — newly minted as a duke and the surprising heir to his father’s estate — in the midst of tense negotiations with a slew of increasingly baffling questionable characters. (A shootout in an upper-class neighbor’s secret vault is a series highlight.) Disconcerted to find out that his father allowed a marijuana farm to flourish on their property under the watchful eye of Susie Glass (Kaya Scodelario), Eddie initially tries to extricate himself from the agreement before circ*mstances (and his older brother, Freddy) force him to engage in the admittedly ungentlemanly life of a gangster. And through it all, the Hornimans remain iconoclastically stylish.
“I had an absolutely wonderful time on the job. It’s an absolutely brilliant show, and I hope everybody enjoyed watching it as much as I did making it with Guy,” costume designer LouLou Bontemps told IndieWire. She was responsible not just for Susie’s jaw-dropping looks but for the careful riffs on the gangsters Eddie and Susie encounter over the course of the eight episodes comprising “The Gentlemen” season. And while the title of the show naturally invoked certain looks, from Harry Goodwins’ muscled boxer to Giancarlo Esposito’s suave American, it’s the careful storytelling embedded in the costumes worn by the Horniman family and Susie that is particularly compelling.
But it’s the bespoke chicken suit that Bontemps created for the riveting climax of the first episode that proves what happens when designers are given the space to do their jobs. “When I read it in the script, I thought, ‘Ah, chicken costume sounds a bit dull,'” Bontemps said. But as Susie Glass herself might say, it all comes down to execution.
Read on to find out more style secrets from “The Gentlemen,” including Bontemps’ favorite look for Susie, the limb she went out on for that chicken suit, and more.
Tammy Horniman (Chanel Cresswell)
Tammy, Freddy’s wife, is more than a little taken aback to discover that she and her husband will not be inheriting the title and the estate (she ends up hyperventilating on the floor during the reading of the will) but that doesn’t mean she’s not already prepared to dress like lady of the manor.
“[Tammy’s costumes] were really going for the WAG type of look,” Bontemps said. “Sort of footballer’s wife. She didn’t necessarily grow up in the same world as Freddy and Eddie but dresses to fit into that world a little bit. So there was a splice of this WAG look as well as Chelsea girl. We had a lot of fun there. We didn’t want to make her look trashy in any sense, but she is definitely dressed for the part, so to speak.
“You know, the scene where Freddy is shooting outside, she’s in a full hunting get up from head to toe, even though she has no interest in going out hunting or shooting herself. But she’s definitely gone out and brought the full gear. And what’s really interesting about that sort of country culture is the people that live in those estates and just grab a gun and go clay pigeon shooting or hunting or whatever it is they’ll do in whatever they’re wearing that morning, whereas people who visit the countryside will arrive in the full get up. Almost like a tourist in the countryside.”
Lady Sabrina Horniman (Joely Richardson)
Lady Sabrina Horniman may initially seem left in the dark when it comes to her family’s excursions in criminality, but there’s much more going on than Freddy and Eddie realize — all subtly indicated via her clothes.
“There was one direction that we could have gone, which would have been the quintessential lady of the estate look. But Joely wanted to add some more dimension, some more mystery. So we gave Lady Sabrina a sort of mysterious, European twist. She’s a lot more stylish than one of these quintessential ladies of the manor, and how she puts herself together is a little bit more lax but very stylish.
“There are some really lovely details in Joely’s wardrobe as well. At the funeral, she’s wearing a hat, and I don’t think a lot of people have noticed just yet, but she has one magpie on her hat. One for sorrow.”
As viewers discover a few episodes into the series, Lady Sabrina and Geoff are much closer than employer-employee. “I won’t ruin the story, but something is discovered later on, and I bring that into her wardrobe every now and then, that kind of hints towards that relationship. Geoff is into taxidermy and he loves animals, of course, so all these little details, her hats and her feathers and things like that, are all sort of suggested to be gifts from Geoff, but we never officially find out.”
Freddy Horniman (Daniel Ings)
You’d feel sorry for Freddy if he weren’t such an absolute knob. As the firstborn, he’s the presumptive heir to the family estate and title — “Ever heard of ‘primogenital?'” he demands — but his knack for creating chaos leads to his younger brother, Eddie, inheriting everything. Including, as it turns out, Freddy’s immense debt.
“Freddy dresses like daddy. Well, he’s probably wearing daddy’s clothes. And I choose the word ‘daddy’ appropriately,” Bontemps said. “Freddy, I mean, his wardrobe is abundant. But his sort of everyday look is this mix of vintage and new. And everything that we bought new had to be broken down and made to look like he’d been wearing it for years.
“It’s this posh boy culture that he grew up in and is surrounded by. The corduroy clashing with that Fair Isle sweater and this vintage tweed jacket. None of it really goes, but at the same time, it does go so perfectly well together for a character like himself. He doesn’t care about his shirt being ironed or anything being tucked in.”
And then there’s the chicken suit. As part of clearing Freddy’s debt, Eddie agrees that his brother will sing a song while dressed in a chicken suit. “co*ck couture,” as Bontemps dubbed it. “When I read the script, I thought, ‘A chicken costume sounds a bit dull.’ And then there’s a reference where Tommy Dixon says that he wants to make [Freddy] feel and look like a co*ck. And I said, ‘OK, well there you go, that’s the chicken costume.’ And I decided to go for a co*ckerel costume rather than a regular chicken one. And I decided to make it out of real feathers, all bespoke, just to really heighten that whole scenario. Because it goes on and on and it’s traumatic and entertaining and fantastic. So we went full hog for that costume. We bought the chicken heads and the little chicken slippers that we attached to some sneakers. But the rest of the costume was all made bespoke.
“Guy was excited about it from the beginning, and I think Netflix were a little bit nervous about it because it seemed a little bit over the top. But there were moments when, as a designer, you just had to say, ‘Please trust me.Just please trust me on this.’ And I definitely had a lot of moments throughout the show with that. But I think after them seeing the first two episodes, there were so many huge looks that we really had to go all out for and they allowed me to, and then the trust was gained after what they saw there.”
Susie Glass (Kaya Scodelario) with Eddie Horniman (Theo James)
Call Susie Glass a girl boss at your own peril — she’s a boss, full stop. (Even if her father is technically still in charge of the marijuana empire she’s helped build.) And she’s also resolute in her absolute refusal to go the route of anything as safe as “quiet luxury.” When Susie Glass enters a room, you will know it.
“She’s assertive, and she dresses for herself, she doesn’t want to dress for anyone else. And that statement in itself is a real type of individual, especially a real type of woman. And exactly like you say, she’s not to be messed with, she is a very strong woman.
“[Susie’s wardrobe] was very much London in style, so a splice of luxury clothing and vintage. It’s similar to New York and Paris, where women dress in absolutely stunning luxury clothing and then mix it in with some beautiful vintage find.
“And then every look has a statement to make in that moment. She goes to the fish market, and there’s that stunning juxtaposition of her in those red-bottom shoes walking through fish guts with her beautiful coat and trousers. And she’s got her red Birkin and her beret, and it was just, she couldn’t stand up anymore. And that moment was a lovely nod to the film when we saw Mrs. Pearson walking into her garage with her red-bottom shoe.
“One of my favorites is her Stella McCartney red velvet outfit with the jacket, shirt, and trousers. That’s absolutely beautiful. There’s another amazing Ralph Lauren moment where she’s wearing an overcoat, blazer, trousers, matching bag, and matching shoes. It’s just absolutely beautiful. I think there’s over 50 looks for Susie, at least. So she got all the attention!”
Eddie Horniman (Theo James)
“Eddie’s wardrobe was a huge topic of conversation, of course, with Theo as our lead. Everyone was a bit nervous about the fact that he wasn’t going to be this quintessential gentleman at first. That’s the gentleman he evolves to become. So we definitely start his wardrobe off as the humble soldier, coming home and trying to sort things out. And then as each episode continues, he starts gaining a sense of style. And that’s running with his assertiveness, discovering this gangster within him.
And that’s how we end the season, where he’s completely differently dressed from how we first saw him at the beginning of Episode 1. I think [Theo] was a bit nervous in the beginning because he was intentionally meant not to be well dressed. And every actor on camera wants to look the best they can look. So that really was a character choice there, and I was very specific. I was like, ‘No, we really do need to see that [evolution].’ So I think the moment that Theo didn’t have to wear a barbour jacket anymore, he was celebrating. He much preferred to be in the bespoke tailored suit.”
