Author: Booth Moore / Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Costume designers behind the Queen biopic break down the rock ‘n’ roll inspirations for Rami Malek’s boundary-pushing Mercury and the “country Stagecoach Festival vibe” seen on Lady Gaga in Bradley Cooper’s hit remake.
Rock ‘n’ roll style is lighting up the big screen this fall, from the 1970s and ’80s androgynous glam of Bohemian Rhapsody, opening Nov. 2, to the contemporary country western and rock-pop stylings of Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born, which has scored well over $200 million at the global box office since its Oct. 5 bow.
Both films deal with the process of becoming a music icon, with the former chronicling the flamboyant life of Queen’s leather- and spandex-loving Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek) and the latter meta-musically stripping back the artifice of one of the greats of our time, Lady Gaga, who plays wannabe-turned-supernova act Ally.
Mercury was so keenly aware of his stage image, he famously said, “It’s not a concert you are seeing, it’s a fashion show.” In addition to doing research at the Queen archives in London, which contain a wealth of news clippings, costumes and more, Bohemian Rhapsody designer Julian Day tapped a who’s who of British fashion to help with the style icon’s gender-bending looks, starting with decadent (and long-shuttered) rock ‘n’ roll London boutique Biba, where Mercury’s female love interest Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton) worked when they met. “Biba owner Barbara Hulanicki put Mary at the front of the store because she dressed the best,” says Day, who sourced vintage Biba for Malek and Boynton.
“Freddie went to art school and had a clothing stall at Kensington Market. He loved clothes.”
During a scene when the band is first signed to a record label, Malek rocks a white leather jacket with winglike shoulder details (his bandmates mock it mercilessly). “That white jacket was found in Jimi Hendrix’s flat when he died, or at least that’s what I was told,” says Day of the vintage rental from Carlo Manzi in London — noting that, if true, it’s a fitting tribute because Mercury was heavily influenced by Hendrix.
Day reproduced many of the performer’s most memorable looks from scratch, starting with multiple pairs of black velvet pants. “We cut so many, we nicknamed them the Freddie flare.”
In the 1970s, Mercury was a frequent patron of pink-haired British fashion designer Zandra Rhodes, who made the white pleated batwing top he wore during a 1974 performance. “Freddie went to her studio and saw her making a wedding dress. He said he’d like to have the…
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