Cosplay is over. Meet Moss-play

She's pulling a dupli-Kate 

In the new film Moss and Freud, actress Ellie Bamber channels the model Kate Moss during a pivotal Y2K moment when she's nine months pregnant and painted in the nude by the acclaimed artist Lucien Freud. The movie, which explores the deep friendship between the model and the artist, debuts this week on Amazon Prime and features many scenes in which Bamber morphs into Moss's blank-faced goddess. There’s also a load of fur jackets, black leather jeans, and moto boots that feel like fond fashion cosplay (shall we call it Moss-play?) sourced by costume designer and longtime Moss bestie James Brown.

To ensure Bamber could launch the movie with a proper dose of fashion cred off-screen, Bamber’s stylist Aimee Croysdill worked for over a year to dig up vintage outfits worn by Moss herself on the catwalk. Bamber has been wearing these looks on the film’s press tour. “Ellie was doing research on the role for Kate, and she started sending me imagery,” says Croysdill from London. “We just got really inspired by them. And by osmosis, Ellie’s research on the film got into our veins for the premiere looks.”

Bamber says the early research paid off. “I loved working with Aimee on the looks for this. All the pieces Kate has worn at some point, but also all the pieces fit with my personal style, too,” the actress tells Harper’s Bazaar. “We wanted it to be authentic.” And Croysdill is careful to note that “this is not method dressing,” noting that the clothes come from Kate Moss’s runway and campaign oeuvre, not a street style catalog of the model’s “Now That’s What I Call Notting Hill!” repertoire. The rules were simple: No to Glastonbury wellies. Yes to Miuccia pencil skirts. And as for archival looks that were iconic but super fragile, like a sheer Prada top that seemed to be made of holy dust? “We had to be so careful with the archival pieces because honestly, they should be in a museum!” says Bamber. “I was too scared to even try it on,” adds Croysdill, laughing.

Here’s how four of the looks came together, according to Croysdill, and where you might be able to dig up your own Moss-adjacent vintage haul.

Versace Runway, 1994, and Versace Campaign Look 1994

“These are two pieces from the same collection—the jumper that Kate wore on the 1994 runway and the metallic skirt that Kate wore in the 1994 ad campaign. And can I tell you, Ellie found this skirt on Vestiaire Collective, and she bought it. When I tell you it fit her like a glove, I mean—we didn't do any alterations to it! Then I went on Vestiaire to try to find the mint-colored jumper from the fashion show. But the pink one jumped out at me, and I was like, ‘This is even better. We’re making it our own.’ So we literally bought them from Vestiaire. I’ve also had great luck with Tom Ford for Gucci on Depop, and I’m always checking eBay.”

 

 

Calvin Klein Runway Look, 1993

“What’s interesting about this look is that it’s actually from [Veronica Leoni]’s collection now. We got pieces from the Calvin Klein store and had the beads custom-made to match the 1993 runway look. I mean, the boxer shorts haven't changed! There's no need to change them; they're as cool as they were in the ’90s.”

Calvin Klein Campaign Look, 1997

“I’d reached out to Calvin Klein for the premiere with a few ideas. I didn’t know if we’d get any of them; I didn’t know if they loaned out their archival pieces. But they were very kind and said, ‘Okay, of the pieces you’ve picked, which is your favourite?’ And I said this dress. It’s actually from the year Ellie was born, which is so special. They found it within 2 to 3 days in their archives. They said, ‘You can have it, but you can’t alter anything.’ So we crossed all our fingers and toes that it fit. It's beautifully looked after. Cutting off its archival tags made me sad. I saved them, of course, so they can go right back on after the press junket.”

Miu Miu Runway Look, 1996

“We have an amazing relationship with Prada and Miu Miu already, and Prada Beauty. So we've been talking to them for like a year. ‘What are we gonna do? How are we going to get this right?’ We tried an archival Prada look, but it didn't fit quite right, and you can't amend them because they're archival. So then Miu Miu said, ‘Okay, we have this look instead?’ And it fit perfectly. I have really strict rules for archival: No boob tape allowed. No pins. No stitches. If you steam it, you have to keep it on the lowest setting. I’m so, so strict about it, but I think it’s worth it. This is history.”

This article is originally from harperbazaar.com 

Lead image: Getty images 

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