Interview with Charlotte Mitchell
Interview with Charlotte Mitchell, Costume Designer on Killing Eve.
Published: 29 May 2019
Villanelle is so arrogant that she doesn’t care if people notice her. She doesn’t mind standing out because she is able to disappear easily.
Can you describe Villanelle’s style in season two?
Villanelle is a costume designer’s dream. She loves luxury and labels, but also has a sense of her own style. She puts pieces together in her own way because she loves having fun and being playful. She's not your typical comic book assassin and likes to be outlandish. She knows she's good at her job and literally gets away with murder. She doesn’t mind standing out because she is able to disappear easily. That arrogance is fantastic and it’s what I stick with when I’m designing Villanelle. She wants to show off and that’s why the colours are bright.
Jodie’s got the most amazing figure so everything suits her beautifully. Villanelle really owns her clothes, she totally knows who she is and she’s not scared of making a statement. She’s not a typical villain who looks dark, sinister and hidden. She is so arrogant that she doesn’t care if people notice her. She adapts her clothes to each environment and is always making a statement.
There’s usually a tongue-in-cheek element to what she chooses to wear, but she’s always hugely stylish and has such flare. Villanelle often finds vintage items or pieces that are just exquisite and I found the most amazing Thierry Mugler jumpsuit which suits Jodie beautifully. Then I put it with these incredible earrings which are out of this world. They are Christian Lacroix from the ‘80s and they’re so Villanelle. She only wears them to show off!
Can you describe Eve’s style in season two?
Eve is all about being practical, showing the energy and heat of each moment. She’s not about clothes and fashion, but is always about the job. In this season she gets introduced to her new team and she does make an effort at first. She looks through her wardrobe and considers what to wear. Villanelle has got into her psyche but it doesn’t take over. She dresses up to a certain degree but nothing fits perfectly and it’s all a bit cheap, all very high street.
Eve’s idea of making an effort is putting a skirt on. Once she’s met her team, she then goes back into her trouser suits. It’s about speed for her, so she throws on what’s easiest. It’s that obvious with Eve - everything’s worn, it’s got texture, it’s got history and nothing has a strong silhouette. Whereas Carolyn has a structured silhouette and a more contained outline. She wears very clean lines, whereas Eve is more draped and drooped.
I really wanted to push the fact that each character has their own silhouette and is clearly defined. Eve has suits that are lacklustre. They look slightly greasy, they’re worn and well used. I’ve put a lot more linen in this year which looks crumpled. It gives that feel that she hasn’t got time to iron. Maybe Niko irons? Eve would throw it on, throw it on the ground, then put it back on all creased. The lighting really picks up all those wrinkles. It’s about texture with her. Nothing is flat, they’ve all got a little bit more life to them. She has one bag and even if she went out for an evening she would pick up the same bag. She might have a couple of coats but they’re all for practical reasons - one’s a rain coat, one’s a warm coat etc.
I’m sure many people can relate to her, the rushing around, not having time to do stuff, thinking about their job, thinking about life, having problems etc. It means her clothes can’t be static and the audience shouldn’t even really notice them. Her clothes are just part of her, they belong to her. She doesn’t own them or claim them like Villanelle does, she just lives in herself.
Eve also has this habit of rolling up her sleeves. It’s almost like she’s getting down to business, but nothing fits very well so that’s why they’re rolled. All her clothes need to have a feeling that they can just move with her and do whatever they need to do without anybody trying to neaten them up. Like her shirt being untucked or her socks and shoes coming off. It’s really important that they have fluidity and no structure so she can throw them on and off.
What were the costume challenges in the opening episodes?
At the beginning, Villanelle has lost everything. The Twelve have taken all of her possessions so she's left with nothing except for the bloody clothes she's wearing after being stabbed by Eve. It was quite a challenge to make that work, because she has to borrow and steal clothes that look nothing like Villanelle.
We stripped back her whole identity. In the first season she played dress up and controlled it, but at the start of season two Villanelle is out of control. There’s a ridiculousness to it which is the genius of the writing. As a costume designer the challenge was to figure out how she would wear those clothes, feeling wretched and completely out of character. It was great fun to play with. There’s a genius shot in the opening episode where Villanelle and a young boy are sat on a hospital bed together in ridiculous comic strip logoed pyjamas. Hers are made of a stretched lycra fabric which makes them look too small. Its fantastic seeing them there together as it’s so funny. Those are the moments I enjoyed the most. On one hand you’ve got the gorgeous designer side to style and on the other it’s the comedic. But I had to be careful not to play up the comedic side and become too clichéd. Having said that, Villanelle is not a clichéd assassin, but when she chooses to play the assassin role she might wear leather and play up to it.
What’s your process once you get the scripts?
I start by conjuring up ideas of the general colour palate for each character and how they’d work within each different environment. It’s like reading a book really, you imagine the scenarios and landscapes that they’ll be in. Then I start researching by looking at certain labels, designers, styling and street style. This is particularly for Villanelle. For Eve, it’s more about what she already has in her wardrobe, as I reuse a lot of her stuff. It’s more focused on the actual scene requirements. When she needs to show energy, the clothes will be a little bit looser and more thrown on. She’s always a bit dishevelled and practical because we like to show that side of her. But there are times when she’s at home and we want her to look cosy. Then I have to think about how the outfit would sit alongside Niko and how they’re trying to play off each other.
After that, I’ll have conversations with the director, the producers and with the actors. The actors really know their characters now and it’s important that we don’t lose the thread of where they feel they are and where they’re going. We have lots of conversations, lots of dialogue, and then I pull it together and make sure that everyone’s voice is heard. The most important thing is making sure the whole picture works and flows together with all the individual voices combined. It’s a very collaborative process, which is great fun.
And then I go to the shops. I start seeing what’s out there and thinking about what I could have made. Then I start drawing, sketching up ideas and finding the right people to make the more specialist things - like a pig mask! I also have to consider the action in this show. If Villanelle has to high kick during one scene then her trousers have to be able to stretch. We usually need doubles of each outfit because there are a lot of stunts.
Then there’s the weather. As it gets colder, I’ve got to start thinking about costumes that also keep the actors warm. Equally, we were filming in France in July and it was boiling hot. Sandra had her Russian costume from season one so we had to rip out everything from the inside of the coat. She had the bare minimum on but it still looked like the warm coat. We also cut her trousers into shorts, for whenever you couldn’t see below the knee on camera, and the sleeves on all her jumpers were taken out! It was quite funny how much fabric we removed, there was barely anything left in it.
Each character has their defined silhouette and a defined colour palate. The England/MI6 palate is quite muted. If I put in any colour it might be a bit of mustard, plum or navy but nothing outlandish. The world of Villanelle is more European and glamorous which is why we go more colourful.
Is Carolyn’s style different in season two?
Carolyn is very still. We’ve really taken her into simple, clean lines this year. She’ll wear fresh white shirts with a simple silhouette to keep her energy still. I’ve re-tailored a jacket to be neat across the shoulders which looks fantastic with Fiona’s hand in her pocket. It helps keep a stillness in her body because she’s very contained. The contained feel is a contrast against the clutter, busyness and heat of Eve.
What about the rest of the MI6 team?
Kenny is the geek sitting at his computer. He’s the young boy and he still looks fantastic, exactly as he was in season one. The new character Hugo is a toff and he knows himself. He thinks he’s rather sexy so just wears whatever and owns it. He pulls it off but he’s not showing off like Villanelle is. He has a different energy to Kenny in that he’s a fun character. He wears a shirt and we made him slightly untuck it so he always looks a bit dishevelled and like he’s just got out of bed.
Jess works alongside Eve quite a lot so it was really important to keep the characters separate in their silhouettes. Jess is very understated cool. She just throws on her dress over her bump. It’s not about her pregnancy though, and you almost forget she’s pregnant. It’s just practical and she looks effortless. She puts on a dress, a leather bomber, her trainers and it’s not overly considered. She’s probably in the same clothes she wore before she was pregnant. Her clothes look wonderful over her bump - loose fitting, skimming dresses and never trousers.
