I was called in to do a rushed velvet jacket for Colin firth for the first Kingsman movie.
– Campbell Carey.
On the show
On the podcast we have Creative Director of Huntsman; Campbell Carey. Huntsman, were the tailors on Savile Row that doubled as The Kingsman. Campbell even had a little cameo in the movie. You can see Campbell lurking behind Valentine played by Samuel L. Jackson in the photo below. Below are some transcribed moments from the interview.
ME
How did you get involved with Huntsman?
CAMPBELL
I’ve made some clothes for Matthew Vaughn (director of Kingsman) before at Kilgour and a couple of bits and bobs at hayward. I was called in to do a rushed velvet jacket for Colin firth for the first Kingsman movie. That was a pull to come here, I knew there would be more movies in the offing.
ME
How much impact did the movie Kingsman: The Secret Service have on Huntsman?
CAMPBELL
Huntsman can be thankful but the whole of Savile Row can be thankful for the movie and the resurgence in younger guys wanting to wear suits and dress up look more formal. I’ve got customers that I’ve looked after from the year 2000, that gives you a real kick doing that. We’ve got an amazing team here, (over 50 members of staff) you take it for granted. Sometimes you pinch yourself.
ME
You made the orange smoking jacket for Golden Circle?
CAMPBELL
Matthew liked to save the iconic looks for us to do, so it’s completely true to Kingsman and Huntsman. Funny thing was, I was in a trunk show in the us when a call came in about this orange jacket and it was Matthew saying you have to find an orange velvet.
And I was thinking, I’d never seen it before. We went to a really good cloth shop in Manhattan called B & J Fabrics and found the exact velvet and brought it back to London. The funny thing is Matthew is actually colour blind, so he had to rely on others to help him out there.
ME
What is Huntsman’s involvement in the latest The King’s Man movie?
CAMPBELL
We had a few garments to make for the third one coming out. Multiples for Harris Dickinson who is Conrad, and Ralph Fiennes who plays the Duke of Oxford, Stanley Tucci, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, […etc] The third one is fantastic because the weight of cloths from these times, we’ve gone back to working with these weights. Average winter weight suits are 13oz. We were making them minimum 16 and upwards to 22 which was just a joy to work with.
The prequel movie The King’s Man scheduled for release on December 22, 2021.
ME
Where did you source the fabric for the suits this time?
CAMPBELL
We used cloth from Mallalieus of Delph an old mill up in Yorkshire. We went back to the cutting books. Michele Clapton who is in charge of the wardrobe who worked on The Crown and Game of Thrones before, she’s good friends with Pierre Le Grange, she got introduced to Matthew and the rest of history.
She had a great eye for texture and colour. you have to remember all these images are in black and white when you go back to the cloth ledgers in those days, the clothes are quite colourful, quite zingy.
Listen to the podcast
Catch the full interview on the podcast which can download on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify. Or listen in the player below. You can catch some of the conversation on our YouTube channel. Book an appointment at Hunstman through their website.
Not only but also
Also joining me is menswear writer, Jovan Gauthier-Vincent who writes:
According to Dan Stroupe of Turnbull & Asser in New York, the shirts were made-to-measure rather than bespoke. Perhaps due to the pace of production plus Colin Firth was already a customer, requiring less time to perfect his pattern. “Glamour” and looser-fitting “action” shirts were made for both Colin Firth and Taron Egerton.
You can find an in-depth article on the Jovan’s break down on the suits worn by Colin Firth in his article here.
Shopping List
The Kingsman (Secret Service & The Golden Circle), based on the comics series of the same name, are both available to buy on Blu Ray as a boxset. The nailed on addition to my future home cinema and podcast studio will be this Vintage Kingsman Movie Poster. (Currently unreviewed, please shop mindfully).
