Published on UNIVERSA on September 18th, 2022
Of the few unanimities of the series “Game of Thrones” among passionate fans, who to this day fight for characters as if they were real people, there is the music and the costumes. Composer Ramin Djawadi remained on the team for “House of the Dragon“, but the wardrobe has changed, and Michele Clapton is not in the production of the prequel. For aficionados, there was a certain tension because Michele’s award-winning work is still one of the franchise’s highlights, with awards, books, and exhibitions around the world. The designer collaborated in the narrative of the story with clothes full of details, mixing metal and silk, keeping the colors and symbols of each house and reflecting the spirit of each character.
Who won the difficult mission to replace the genius of its predecessor is Jany Temime, more than used to franchises and fantasy universes. Temime designed all the costumes for Harry Potter, and gave James Bond elegance and style in the films “Skyfall” and “Spectre”, in addition to dressing the character Natasha Romanov played by Scarlett Johansson in the Marvel feature, “The Black Widow”. Jany also recreated Judy Garland costumes in “Judy”.
Jany’s creative versatility is breathtaking, whether it’s James Bond’s well-cut suits, Russian army uniforms to dress Yelena (Florence Pugh) and Natasha Romanov (Scarlett Johansson), or the work of fan and love in ” Judy”. The clothes of “House of the Dragon”, with details of each character and the House they represent, drew praise from the cast itself, such as actor Matt Smith, who praised Jany in his interviews about the series.
Discreet and super busy in Italy, in the production of her next work, Jany spoke exclusively to Universa about the series that has been breaking records since the beginning of September
UNIVERSA Your work has been amazing, in so many different contents that are inspiring! Who inspires you and what were your main challenges in the business?
JANY TEMIME The truth is that inspiration is everywhere so there’s no way to cite specific examples! But my biggest challenge, incredibly, was to always keep an inspiration still fresh, and new, being careful never to copy yourself.
Is the challenge of recreating parts like the amazing “Judy” costumes harder than the historic “House of the Dragon” costumes?
You know, “Judy” was also a creative process and we worked on top of the script, with Renée Zellwegger wearing what I created. It was not a job for Madame Tussaud! (laughs)
In “House of Dragon”, the clothes are a big part of the narrative and introduce us to the personality of the characters as well as the era in which the story is told. Did you have access to the scripts from the beginning? Were there a lot of details coming from the script or can you bring ideas for the plays?
Yes, I had access, because a good relationship with directors and staff is essential for my creation and collaboration. After all, we are working together on the same project. It’s the actors who wear the costumes, so their ideas are always very important. The personality of each sum, as well as their talents, are, in fact, the beginning of the designs, so the pieces are designed for them
Gradually we can see Alicent’s maturation as Queen, showing more cleavage and embroidery, wearing jewelry, no longer shy, and becoming more confident. Her dresses show this development. What can we expect from the new Queen of Westeros?
Alicent’s most beautiful look was her wedding dress, it was amazing, but unfortunately, it was cut at the end of the second episode. What a shame! There she was, magnificent, a queen. But that’s okay, she still has a lot more gorgeous dresses coming. But unfortunately, the wedding dress was nowhere to be shown because the scene was cut. I’m afraid it will never be seen…
[After the interview, director Greg Yaitanes shared photos in stories, on Instagram, and fans and websites reproduced it]
The amazing wedding dress that Alicent wore in a scene that was cut from the 2nd episode Image: Disclosure Matt Smith’s wardrobe is also amazing, his armor and his clothes are always so elegant. Does each Targaryen have its own style? How do they differ from each other?
I love men’s tailoring, as my two James Bond films show. The inspiration for Matt [Smith] was a Samurai skirt that I found that we cut like his tunic using his shape. The first adaptation was a huge success and he moves brilliantly with the outfit. I was happy because he loved it.
“House of the Dragon” is a fantasy universe, but very close to a medieval period. Is there a specific period and historical character that might have inspired you or used it as a basis for what we see in Westeros?
Exactly, ‘House Of the Dragons” is a fantasy and medieval times carry the spirit of the story well. Having said that, I confess, I was inspired a lot at the beginning of the Renaissance by some elements of the costume, escaping a little from the historical period.
All of the outfits from this season of “House of the Dragon” were highly praised by fans, as I’ve already mentioned. How many details of each house go into the clothes? How many different ways to enter dragons?
Yes, colors are essential to differentiate the Houses, as it was in Harry Potter, for example. Now dragons are everywhere in “House of the Dragon”, they are a source of details, prints, jewelry, etc. Fire and tails. I designed the embroidery, I used many scales in leather, in fabrics. For armor… There is no Targaryen outfit without a dragon association. Trying to find the dragons must be a challenge! I leave it to the fans to have fun identifying them!
Rhaenyra and young Alicent are still not dressed in “their colors” – black and green – what will the transition be like?
They will start soon, in episode 6, when they transition to the adult version. Actually, Rhaenyra is a little earlier than Alicent, but I can’t reveal much yet.
What is the fashion trend in the first part of the story and how will it be involved? Will we be able to tell the weather change by the way they dress too?
Oh, we’ll see. It’s still spring, and winter hasn’t arrived yet! [here, she plays with the motto of House Stark, from “Game of Thrones”, which said “winter is coming”]
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