You know a film connects in a unique way when it inspires a real-world fashion collection.
Such is the case with Walt Disney Studio’s upcoming The King’s Man. Inspired by the comic book The Secret Service by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, The King’s Man is the latest in a series of films by director Matthew Vaughn. The film details an imagined world in which a collection of criminal geniuses intend to design a war to calamitous effect. The King’s Man sprinkles fictional characters with real-life historic figures such as England’s King George V, Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II, Russia’s Nicholas II, and of course Rasputin.
Judging from the early trailer, the most eye-popping aspect of the action adventure may be the impeccable clothing on display for the proper British gentlemen of the cast. Men’s luxury fashion retailer Mr Porter certainly agreed.
Taking over costume design duties in the Kingman film series from Arianne Phillips, The King’s Man costume designer Michele Clapton worked with Mr Porter to assemble a retail collection inspired by the film’s classic designs. A celebrated costume designer, she has received six Emmy Awards for her work on HBO’s Game of Thrones and Netflix’s The Crown. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in September 2020, Clapton described feedback from the cast as the inspiration for the menswear line.
“We all have an idea of what Kingsman is like; it’s very sophisticated, but it has a stylized sense to it,” Clapton told The Hollywood Reporter’s Laurie Brookins. “It was interesting researching the period and realizing the shapes of the suits and cuts were actually really dashing. Within two or three wearings, some of the actors would say, ‘We would wear this outfit.’ That’s when it dawned on us that it could translate into a contemporary collection of clothes.”
Director Matthew Vaughn points to Huntsman, a Savile Row tailor in London, as the original inspiration for the front tailoring firm featured in the film. To create classic fashion for the modern man, Clapton’s collaboration with Mr Porter resulted in collections reflecting the film’s World War I-era setting. That means 3-piece suits made from lighter material were introduced into the now third Kingsman / Mr Porter iteration. The film’s costumes were, of course, made from period-specific, heavier fabrics that needed to be lightened.
“Classic tailoring is hard to beat, and I wanted to illustrate that no matter what decade you were in, if you went to Kingsman for clothing you would look great,” Vaughn told The Hollywood Reporter. “Kingsman really proves the point that style never goes out of fashion.”
But what I really want to know is, where can we find fashions inspired by Rhys Ifans’s Rasputin.
The King’s Man premieres only in theaters on December 22.
