When the trailer dropped for Killing Eve’s second series last week, the nation was fascinated (yet again) by the sartorial choices of its lead character. Villanelle (brilliantly played by Jodie Comer), an impeccably dressed assassin who is curiously charmed and chased by an FBI agent called Eve (Sandra Oh).
Like Eve, the viewer is totally enraptured by her, and especially by her luxurious style. (A particularly notable scene in the first series was when Villanelle flounced about in a pink tulle Molly Goddard dress after a successful kill.) The next series, which is due to air on 7 April in America, and hopefully soon after in the UK, promises to be even more experimental with its fashion, according to costume designer Charlotte Mitchell, who is new for series two. ‘Everybody wanted to push it further,’ she tells Grazia. ‘Every look had to be different – Villanelle never wears the same thing twice. So I was constantly coming up with a new style for her.
Villanelle, she adds, uses colour to be playful, show her motive and provoke a reaction. ‘Pink is part of that,’ continues Charlotte. ‘So I wasn’t afraid of using the colour again – characters have to be real and wear the same colours at different moments.’ With her multifaceted identities, Villanelle is a costume designer’s dream. ‘She’s not a leather-clad, stereotypical assassin – she’s her own person,’ she continues. ‘She can be demure and sweet, then other times she’s quirky, and sometimes she’s elegant – it’s as though I am designing for about 10 different characters at one time.
‘Villanelle puts things together in her own way,’ she adds. ‘At the beginning, when she finally gets her wardrobe back, she wears a Chloé jacket with an Isabel Marant shirt and a pair of silver/gold trousers. They all slightly don’t work – but she looks amazing with her strong, tomboy silhouette, in a very elegant way that Jodie can totally pull off.’
But while Villanelle loves luxury labels, (Armani appears in the second series), she’s also a thrift shopper, or a ‘magpie’ as Charlotte calls her. ‘I found the most incredible vintage pieces in Amsterdam and Paris,’ she says. Jodie is ‘extremely involved’ in the designing process. ‘We have lots of conversations, both read the scripts, we do a fitting and work through it together,’ she adds. ‘If Jodie really feels the costume, she’ll evolve into Villanelle in the fitting. You’ll know which outfit she wants to wear, and she’ll fight for it and tell the producers, “I believe in this.”’
Jodie, who also spoke to Grazia recently, says she feels ‘so lucky to have such beautiful costumes’, although she feels that she ‘can never wear a pink dress again’. The challenge of this series, Jodie says, was keeping the characters fresh. ‘The show has to keep the cat and mouse chase alive and make sure that Villanelle is still completely crazy,’ Jodie says. ‘I don’t really want to have a moment where people think, “Oh I see why she did that, that’s... rational.” She’s crazy and dangerous – I love it.
Killing Eve Season Two Looks - Grazia
1 of 4Romantic in Pink
'Villanelle is in a "love bubble" – she's in Amsterdam and is writing love letters to Eve. I found a Rosie Assoulin shirt and tied it in a way that it isn't usually worn to give it a '50s feel and took it slightly off the shoulder to give it a wide neck. I wanted to give that openness to her face, so she's not scared to show her collarbone and she's open to things. Her pink Kafka ballgown skirt is from William Vintage – it's out of context for daytime, but it's totally what Villanelle would do. She picks clothes to provoke a reaction. The Christian Lacroix vintage earrings are also in contrast to a day scene. Pink plays quite heavily in that moment – she stands out in her love bubble. It's very romantic'.
2 of 4Boho Chic
Villanelle's in dress- up mode. She plays characters when she wants to kill,' says Charlotte. 'When Villanelle wears a wig, you know she's not playing herself. In light of this, we wanted a look which was more boho than Villanelle would be. I found this incredible raspberry pink fur coat from Armani. It's a bit too rock'n'roll for Villanelle, but right for the character she is playing. She wouldn't usually wear a bright pink oversized fur coat.'
3 of 4Suited Up
'Another dress-up moment – this is Villanelle going off to do her job as an undercover assassin. The suit is from Marks & Spencer because she is playing a character again. Whenever she assumes a different character, it's always her take on what things are. They will always have a dark sense of humour behind them.'
4 of 4Child's Play
'Series Two starts 30 seconds after the end of series one, so Villanelle's been stabbed and she's bloody. We needed to find her a way of changing clothes and what she finds are these child's pyjamas. It's quite fun that the only thing she can find are these very tight PJs, which are too short for her. They've got comic strips all over them – so the motif is ludicrous. It was great fun that outfit. It's really strong because of the colour we chose.'