“We Create a Character, Not Only a Costume”

Iconic costume designer Jany Temime talks about Hermione’s yule ball dress, adapting designs for stunts in James Bond and what many may not know about her dynamic profession

Potterheads, Marvel fans and James Bond enthusiasts unite: Screengrabs has the honour of sharing a recent rapid-fire Q&A with costume designer Jany Temime. Responsible for the character looks we know and love starting from the third film of the Harry Potter franchise to its final chapter, Black Widow, James Bond’s Skyfall, the award-winning Judy and many more feature films enjoyed by millions worldwide.

James Bond’s suit in Skyfall. Costume design by Jany Temime. Illustration by Elias Nugent Harewood (easyundefined).

Maya Orbach: You've worked on incredible films that not only changed the cinema visually but were popular globally such as the Harry Potter franchise, James Bond and the Marvel world. How did you approach working on projects with such large fanbases and an added pressure and expectation?

Jany Temime: I think that you just do what you have to do, and the pressure and the expectation should be the same whether the project is small or big. You do your job. I never think about the expectation, I just think about what I’ve got to do for the director to be happy of the costumes. You can start a small project, and it becomes something incredible. You have no idea. And you can start something really big and then it doesn’t come out big at all, because it’s not good. You should always spend the same energy and the same care.

About the expectation, first, every director expects and thinks that he is doing a masterpiece, so your approach is exactly the same. So, to make a long story short it's always difficult. Every project has different challenges but of course, the studio films have productional challenges, which are there because it’s big and they are all looking at what you are doing. But when you are doing a small film, then you have so much responsibility as well, because everything is in your hands.

MO: What kind of visual material and research did you look at for the film Judy?

Judy Garland’s (portrayed by Renée Zellweger) flower dress in Judy. Costume design by Jany Temime. Illustration by Elias Nugent Harewood (easyundefined).

JT: I knew that when I was doing Judy, it was an adventure. It was a big thing for me, it was a big thing for the director. So, I really felt that I had a lot of responsibility to make it good. First because it was the story of Judy Garland and you try to be as honest and as good as you can because you are recreating a legend, and on top of that I had the responsibility of a brilliant actress.

Everybody is taking on the same challenge, so you feel that you really have to give your best. I was trying to get as much material as I could find. The script helped me to pick up what I needed because for every song, there was a costume connected to that song. The script brings not only the song but a very specific moment of a career. So instead of looking at all that she was wearing, I looked at what was connected to the script momentum.

So, for that song she used to wear that dress, for that happening in her life, like the meeting with her husband, she was wearing that for her wedding, and from that on I designed. Because of copyright we were not allowed to reproduce her dresses, so it had to be à la. So, I had to create something that she could have worn, which was in her style of what she was wearing but it was not the real thing. Not exactly the same because we couldn’t. And I didn’t want to anyway.

MO: How did you incorporate the Harry Potter books and your own ideas when designing the costumes for the characters?

JT: We were making a film, not a book, so I read the book for inspiration and then I designed for the script which was given to me. The description in the book was more to put the costume in context, in a social context, in the romantic context, never historical. I knew that from then on, I had to dress more specific actors and not the fictional character of the books. It’s a bit different.

We were creating inside of the JK Rowling universe, we were creating our own universe. And that was important, that what I delivered was poignant and visually correct to the script. It had to be one visual feast. I was in touch with JK Rowling and I always had her approval. But she’s a brilliant woman and she exactly understood the challenge we had, and the film is not the book, of course.

MO: Could you tell us what your vision was for Hermione’s yule ball look and the decisions behind it?

Hermione’s yule ball dress in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Costume design by Jany Temime. Illustration by Elias Nugent Harewood (easyundefined).

JT: I wanted her to be… a sweet sixteen. I wanted to show that it was the first time that she becomes… an awakening of her femininity. So, it had to be feminine, it shouldn’t be too sweet, but it had to be a little dream. Then I designed that, and it worked. I wanted also to have something magical by a change of colours and because everything is always so strict in what she was wearing, I wanted to have movement and that’s why I did this chiffon. I wanted a floating element because suddenly she’s above reality, it’s the first time she comes out and it had to be magically different, and it was. We had to say oh, here she comes. And we did, we all did. So that was good.

MO: How did you then reflect the darker tone and internal changes of the Harry Potter films within the costume design toward the ending of the franchise?

JT: Naturally. The kids grew, Going back to the essence of the story, they are on the road, they are lost, of course they are not going to wear anything glamorous. We always managed to have the costume adapted to what was happening. And what was happening was sombre and dark, so it had to be dark and sombre. It came to a point organically because the script was excellent, the director was excellent. We were working all together to create the end of the story.

MO: For Black Widow and the Bond films such as Skyfall, how did you consider the physicality and stunts of the characters when designing the costumes? Did you use flexible fabrics or special techniques?

JT: We always do that. First, we have the real costume and then you adapt every costume for the stunt. So, for instance, when he has a motorcycling job, we need to have the sleeve longer because his arms are extended. When he is riding, we have to reinforce the trousers inside. You adapt it to the stunt but that’s sort of normal because the jacket could be bigger, because we have to put a corset inside.

MO: What does it mean to be a costume designer for you? What is an aspect that people may not know about this profession?

JT: I think what people don’t realise that it is not only aesthetic, we have an enormous dramatic influence on the film. We create a character, not only a costume. And if that costume doesn’t help the character, then it’s a bad costume. We don’t work for Madame Tussauds, we work for a film. We work for a director who wants to express a story. Of course, there has to be visual art, so it has to look beautiful, but it has to be adapted, it has to be right. And I think that a lot of people who are starting costume design don’t realise how dramatically involved we have to be with the development of the script and the way the actor will play the part, and that a costume is an instrument for them to be the written character.

MO:. Do you prefer a specific genre of film or a time period to work within?

JT: No, not at all. I just want a good film with a good director. I like to be challenged and then the fact that you’re being challenged means that you have to create something that you didn’t do before, working with good directors, working with amazing actors who are going to wear your creations and make them arrive. This is the challenge and beauty of our job.

MO: Speaking of challenges, did you have one that you overcame in your career that was specifically challenging in terms of the costume design or a project?

JT: I just finished the prequel of Game of Thrones [House of the Dragon] and that was quite challenging because you create costumes which have to be as good as what has been before, which has been very successful and very wonderfully approved and liked and you have to create something which is as good, but different.

You have to respect what has been done qua style, and qua influence. So, I think it’s always very challenging to work after something excellent has been done. I know that it comes out in August and I’m really looking forward to it, to see if I will win the challenge. Because at the end of the day, it’s the public who decides. This is how humble our jobs are, you can do something magnificent but at the end of the day the public doesn’t like it, or doesn’t understand it, it is nothing. Your art is just valuable if it is appreciated.

MO: Final question, what are you looking forward to most in your career?

JT: To keep on doing what I’m doing and to work with the wonderful people I’m working with and creating more costumes, which will be, I hope, real. I want to keep a good challenge, that’s what I will say. And succeed in it.

“We Create a Character, Not Only a Costume”

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