Loulou Bontemps, a talented French-British costume designer based in London, is celebrated for her work on The Gentlemen (Netflix, 2023), Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024), Guy Ritchie's The Covenant (2023), and The Midwich Cuckoos(2022). Having worked her way up through the costume department, she now creates striking wardrobes that bring both past and present to life. For Loulou, designing costumes is all about capturing a character’s essence through the thoughtful use of colour, texture, style, and silhouette.
Before we dive into sustainability, could you tell us about your journey into costume design? What initially inspired you to pursue this career, and how did you get started?
I think I've always had a love of making, fabrics and style from watching my mum at an early age. She had a fabric shop and made clothes for other people as well as for me and my siblings. Her style and craft has definitely influenced my world of design and inspired me to create in a world I didn't really know was an option for me. That world being costume design. I started really as a stylist, as well as trading at portobello green market for a handful of years. I met designers there who I started buying for and was eventually invited on set. Once I experienced the work inside a costume department I just knew that was the creative team I belonged in, so slowly I started doing it more and worked my way up to the top.
Sustainability is gaining more attention in costume design. How do you incorporate sustainable practices when creating looks for large-scale productions?
Fashion is a behemoth industry with a staggering environmental footprint. It's a multi-billion dollar global business creating over 100 billion garments a year, while consumers generate a mountain of textile waste so vast it's visible from space. The fashion industry is responsible for a whopping 10% of humanity's carbon emissions - more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. It's an overwhelming thought, isn't it? But there are so many ways to love fashion, design and be sustainable. I'm constantly learning and working in film presents unique sustainability challenges, but I strive to make responsible choices whenever possible.
Sustainability is an evolving concept and practice, I think it's important people understand that. There are obvious ways to be sustainable, for example shopping vintage, using eco-friendly products - but there is a huge area in our work where we have to buy or make multiples of costumes and I think people assume sustainability can't exist in that area - but it can, like choosing natural fabrics: I'm fascinated by the history and variety of fabrics, natural fibres like wool, cotton, and linen are great for regulating body temperature. Meanwhile synthetics are derived from fossil fuels and shed microplastics. Did you know that washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibres into the ocean each year? I also work with local tailors and when I can use local fabric mills for bespoke pieces. People think bespoke can't be sustainable, but that's nonsense, it can! It's how fashion started!
Period pieces often require specific materials to achieve authenticity. How do you balance this need with the goal of using eco-friendly materials?
I mentioned natural fibres earlier playing a huge part in eco-friendly materials, most period costumes are made from natural fibres. You can buy or hire them, you can recreate them. Repurposing and recycling is huge in sustainability: items no longer wanted or worn find new homes or purposes. Making replica period pieces can be done in a sustainable way.
Can you share a particular project where sustainability played a significant role in your design process?
I think on The Gentlemen, Netflix, because I didn't have to have repeats of the majority of the looks and there were over 500 costumes in that season - this allowed me to shop vintage. To hunt around London for extraordinary pieces previously worn and loved and repurpose them into these wonderful characters. From Barbour jackets to Sergo Tacchini tracksuits, Gucci purple leather trousers and Courreges sunnies. It was so crucial to make each character look authentic to their culture, their areas of the UK, the fashion of their community. Shopping vintage played a huge role in that process.
How do you minimise waste during the costume creation process?
Most of the time there is a costume sale at the end of the show, or we donate to charities - I only keep in storage key pieces that need to be kept safe for the following season or film. I also have a huge kit that I take from job to job and reuse as often as I can.
In your recent work, such as The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, what steps did you take to ensure the designs were environmentally conscious?
We hired all of the uniforms, which is great, I have an amazing team here in the UK and in Poland. I try to get all the hires from one house to minimise travel and so on. But we are spoilt in the uk and Europe for costume hire houses. Again in Ministry there are a huge amount of original late 30s and 40s costume. The pieces we made were for the sake of repeats like Marjorie's silk ivory dress, but her wardrobe is a mix of half vintage and half makes. I have in house tailors, I only buy natural fibres in fabrics, and I source them either from London or around the UK. We also shot the film in Turkey, once we moved there we used local fabrics and tailors to finish the rest of the making. It makes the final wardrobe quite special when you take this approach. And this film is by far my favourite and best work to date I think.
What role does collaboration play in making the costume design process more sustainable?
In my work I collaborate with the creative grown ups, the directors, producers, actors and so on - but how a costume is made or sourced is all me and my team who follow my lead. I would love to collaborate with sustainable brands. I am discussing a few ideas with people at the moment, we'll see where it takes us.
Costume design for films can sometimes inspire mainstream fashion. How do you think sustainable costume practices can influence the wider fashion industry?
I think when people see a great look or character they want it for themselves. I had endless messages and emails from women and men about Susie and Eddies wardrobes on The Gentlemen, press saying the fashion on the show had boosted sales in British country fashion - that is so wonderful. And I will shout from the mountain tops that it was 80% vintage. That people should rediscover their own wardrobe first before shopping. You'll likely find forgotten treasures and realise you already own items you were planning to buy. This process can revolutionise your shopping habits and reduce unnecessary purchases. That we bought local brands, who source fabrics from local mills and get their clothing made locally. Consider your wardrobe, don't over buy, choose wisely. Right now the world is discreetly being destroyed by unnecessary fashion.
Vintage and upcycled pieces are often used in costume design. How do you go about sourcing these items, and what impact does this have on sustainability?
Portobello Green Market, every charity shop I see, every vintage market in every town I travel too, my own personal wardrobe, my own stock - I even contact private collectors and loan pieces from them before of buying new. Or repurposing in our workroom something to be worn and loved in a new way.
Finally, what legacy do you hope to leave in terms of sustainable costume design in the industry?
Oh wow, I think I prefer to focus on change now rather than a legacy. I've never thought about that to be honest, a legacy in my work. But I believe by adopting these practices I've mentioned, as well as so many more, we can all contribute to a more sustainable approach to fashion while still expressing our personal style or building characters in a film. I'm not one for perfection, rather making conscious choices and small changes that add up to big impacts, it's an adventure in sustainable fashion and I'm here for it!
A massive thank you to Loulou for taking time out of her busy schedule to chat to me. Make sure you check out her website.
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