Décors et costumes

Shows like “Billions” and HBO’s “Succession,” a prickly drama about a Murdoch-like media dynasty that returns for its second season this summer, have to offer a convincing visual representation of the ultrawealthy, the 1 percent of the 1 percent. Jesse Armstrong, who created “Succession,” described a governing principle: “Let’s just be as truthful as we can.”

Still, the various design departments have to put across billionaire style on a thousandaire budget. (O.K., tens or hundreds of thousands, but still.) On each set calculations are made as to what to pay top dollar for and what to beg, borrow or fake.

Macfadyen wears what appears to be a men’s Cartier Ballon Bleu in Episodes 4 and 5, however, after closer examination, the watch does not appear to be an authentic Ballon Bleu.

By contrast there is Tom (Matthew Macfadyen), the industrious Midwestern husband of Shiv, Roy’s only daughter, who has clawed his way into the top spot at the family’s news network through a combination of brown-nosing and burying unsavory company secrets. Matland told me recently, by phone, that Tom’s wardrobe—flashy Italian suits by Zegna and Loro Piana (which can range from two thousand dollars to upward of fifteen thousand)—is meant to signal his status as an arriviste. “He wears his desire on his sleeve,” she said, which in the Roy world makes him vulnerable

Few shows in recent history have received as much attention simply for the clothes as “Succession.” The costuming on the show is indulgent, and impeccable; it arguably plays as big a role as the actors. Entire articles have been written about Shiv’s backless turtleneck — her clothes and her hair. The men on the show are no exception; each and every one of them is meticulously tailored and styled to tell us exactly who he is, and exactly who he wants to be. They are the perfect illustration of the immense precision, balance, and awareness of self that goes into being a well-dressed man; how everything from the width of a man’s tie knot to the cut of his jacket can make a critical difference in how he is seen.

Michelle Matland, costume designer for “Succession,” spoke with Variety about the comfort as an indicator of wealth, vests, and how a tie knot can make a man.
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Q There’s a moment where Shiv takes a jab at Tom’s suits, and that was interesting because they technically fit him very well. But I also saw her point – he always looks uncomfortable.

A That’s exactly the right word that I would use. There is a level of discomfort within Tom from so many layers in his life. He’s just not an equal, on so many levels, to the people that he’s competing with. It feels almost like a competition for him. And he’s a very bright man. But he was not brought up in a household of great wealth. He was not educated the way they were. And so, he is a posturer. And there is a level of a facade on him where the clothes are, it’s like Dressy Bessy, you know? It’s laid on top of the person rather than worn organically like he owns it.

One of the decisions that we made, for example, was when we did the big conference. There are eight million puffy vests in the world; his, of course, has to have the patch that says Moncler or whatever. He can’t get past that because those identifiable markers on the price tags are the things that make him comfortable.