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The fashion of Succession has been crucial to the success of Jesse Armstrong’s foul-mouthed, Shakespearean epic from the very beginning. Who could forget Shiv’s roster of slippery silk shirts during her heyday as a slick political consultant? Or Kendall’s ill-judged Lanvin trainers, worn to impress the founders of an achingly cool start-up? Or Greg’s transition from rain jackets and deck shoes to a boardroom uniform that echoes Tom’s?
All of that is the work of the Emmy-nominated costume designer Michelle Matland, who has been outfitting the Roys and their ambitious hangers-on since Season 1, perfecting both the stealth wealth aesthetic of Waystar Royco’s most senior executives and the unbecomingly flashy ensembles of interlopers who don’t know any better.
However, for Season 4, the frenzy-inducing final installment of what is now a 13 time-Emmy-winning behemoth, she had her work cut out for her: namely, telegraphing the trajectory of the series and its major power players through their hard-shouldered suiting and louche loungewear without ever giving anything away, a task that has becoming increasingly difficult given the rabid and eagle-eyed nature of the show’s fanbase. Staggeringly, she and the show’s creators have achieved this with remarkable ease, with each episode effectively pulling the rug out from under us: the Roys were all in black for Connor’s wedding, which quickly took a funereal turn that no one saw coming; and Shiv’s uncertainty about her future was writ large in her slightly crumpled Max Mara separates long before she was revealed to be four months pregnant.
As a result, Matland’s sartorial choices are now under even more scrutiny, as Succession hurtles towards its conclusion and we await the fate of the siblings as well as the company they’ve spent years battling over. Below, the costume designer answers all of our burning questions, from what Shiv’s erratic attire means for her Season 4 arc, to the evolution of Gerri’s boardroom look, and how she decided on that “ludicrously capacious” bag.
*__Vogue: __*So, firstly, what’s going on with Shiv? From that low-effort ponytail at Connor’s wedding to her almost-too-relaxed suiting in the first episode, she begins this season looking quite different to how we’ve seen her before.
Michelle Matland: With Shiv, you have to take into consideration the journey that she’s been on since the start of the show. She’s experienced the lowest of lows and the highest of highs. There was a point when things started to look up for her in terms of her participation in the family business and the power that she was gaining in the boardroom. And as a woman, too, both in her relationship with Tom and in her other sexual experiences, she was always in control. By the time we get here, I think things are starting to fall apart a little bit. She doesn’t know where she fits in, in terms of the balance of power with her brothers, and she doesn’t know where she stands with her father, either. You can see that unease in her attire. She, of course, doesn’t have her entire repertoire of clothing with her at the moment [she’s shown picking up items from her shared apartment with Tom], but also I just don’t think it’s a priority.
There was also chatter about her wearing a University of Minnesota T-shirt when she’s on the phone with her doctor about her scan. Is it Tom’s?
We believe that’s her husband’s T-shirt, and that she still has some fire burning somewhere deep down for him. She’s lonely and unhappy, and sometimes when we feel that way, we can gravitate to those items that smell a bit like someone we loved, even if we’re not sure about how we feel towards them now. It’s a moment where we show the difficulties she’s having and how she’s trying to pull it together.
In the last few episodes, though, she seems to be getting her mojo back somewhat, in her McQueen two-pieces and Ralph Lauren jumpsuits. Is she regaining that control?
She has not, in any way, given up, but she still doesn’t know exactly where she stands. In those situations, I think it’s always easier to put on a uniform: a suit, something structural, some armor. So, when she’s in these looks, it’s her way of saying, “I’m still here.” We’ll see how much that… let’s just say, we’ll see where we land with that. There are definitely two parts of her that are in conflict: on one hand, she’s a mother-to-be, a woman scorned, a daughter perhaps unloved, a sister betrayed; and on the other hand, also the woman who still wields power in the room.
Coming onto Gerri, tell me about her Scanlan Theodore wedding look. Why does she decide to go all-out in that scene, versus wearing something more subtle?
So, Gerri now has a beau and she has something to prove to Roman and the team—that she is a woman as well as a corporate phenom. I think that she takes these opportunities to dress up just as seriously as she takes the uniform she wears in the boardroom. Her boardroom look has really evolved over the years, and this season, we see some very body-skimming looks that are almost mildly sexual in shape. She’s finding her way, and you have to remember that this season is all about power and who comes out on top, so everyone’s in battle mode and thinking about what their clothing is saying when they get to work.
We see her looking the best she’s ever looked after Logan’s passing. Is she feeling more free to express herself now?
It presents an opportunity for her, definitely, and it’s very possible that she might fall into a very strong position, so I think, in that moment, she’s feeling good about herself and her possibilities and wearing that on her sleeve. I think she wants everyone to know that she’s a contender.
Another woman who’s gained a significant amount of power this season is Willa. Tell me about finding her Essense of Australia wedding dress, which we only see for a second.
Willa’s trajectory on the show is as strong as anyone’s—she has more power now than ever before, and you see that in her clothing, which is much more refined. In the beginning, she wore those flirtatious, hippie, wild-child frocks with knee-high boots—they’re quite silly, frothy and fun. But now, she’s married a billionaire and that’s a huge leap for someone like Willa, so we see her clothing become slightly more structured. It’s still within the Willa realm of fun and sexy, but certainly more conservative.
I feel like her wedding dress exemplifies that—it’s not some giant Vera Wang dress, it’s actually quite simple. I think she now sees herself as the partner of a Republican presidential contender and she’s bought into it. She’s got this new apartment, she’s going to be the grande dame, and she’s perfectly okay with that. She was on the fence for a long time but now she’s ready to go.
Then there’s Kerry, who now seems to have been banished, but started the season quite strong with those Sergio Hudson suits.
Kerry sees opportunity in her future, and she sees the value of wearing color in dark rooms filled with pinstripes. She could see that Logan was very taken with her. At the beginning of the season, I think she believes that something is going to come of it—that she’ll end up with a pocket full of cash, or a newscaster job, or that she and Logan would get married, or she’d have a child by him or something. She obviously sees what she can gain from catching Logan’s eye and engaging with him in this way, but I also think she loves him. Maybe that’s just me [laughs].
I also can’t let you go without asking about Naomi Pierce. We only see her briefly—wearing Proenza, as she often does—but she looks incredible.
When we see her this season, Naomi’s taken a bit of a turn: we find her in her own environment, her family’s home. We see the same monochromatic tonality that we’ve seen from her before, but this time, it’s not structured. She’s out of New York and in California, so she’s in her comfort zone and able to lounge. She’s powerful, too—she’s bringing the siblings to Nan Pierce, and you can see that she’s casual about it and comfortable in her own skin, versus all these other people in the room who are wearing so many layers and the costumes of business.
She’s about as far as you can get from Bridget and her “ludicrously capacious” bag. How difficult was it to choose a bag for that scene?
It was like a scavenger hunt—it was a collaborative process with the costume and props departments, and we all brought in what we thought was that bag, and then we kind of battled over it. In the end, the Burberry bag was the right bag for her because it reflects [that kind of character’s] understanding of what an iconic, logo-covered bag is. It’s not Gucci, it’s not Saint Laurent. The rest of her outfit—the Sandro floral dress and those boots—reflects that as well. It just doesn’t go together. That Burberry bag is maybe something you’d wear with jeans and a Fair Isle sweater, but she doesn’t know any better, in the same way that she doesn’t realize it’s inappropriate to be posting on social media from Logan’s birthday, speaking to him about the deal, and asking him for a selfie.
And what about the men in the show? How have Kendall and Roman, in particular, evolved over these four seasons?
I don’t think Roman’s really changed at all—he kind of has his uniform and he doesn’t stray too far from that—whereas Kendall’s journey, on the show and in terms of his wardrobe, has been so tumultuous. Now, I feel like he’s gotten to a place where he thinks he knows who he is, and he believes he’s in control of his future. I actually think he’s the one character on the show who really has insight into what clothing and luxury items say about a person. He wants to utilize that, but he also finds comfort in those things: the Loro Piana cashmere baseball cap, the Tom Ford jumper and suede bomber jacket. They’re part of his veneer and those labels mean something to him, but they’re quiet and I don’t think he wants everybody else to notice. When he’s alone, he’ll assess his clothes and think, “Who am I? What is this saying?” But then, he also has moments like the one in Episode 6, with the flight jacket. Now, that was pure Top Gun, and the patches on it are like talismans for Kendall. That was his big opportunity, and he knew it.
And finally, looking back on the show as a whole now, do you have one favorite Succession look of all time?
That’s too hard. I’ll just say that I love dressing Shiv, Gerri, and Harriet [Walter, who plays Logan’s ex-wife, Lady Caroline Collingwood]. Harriet’s costumes are quite outside the box for the show, so it’s always fun to do something a little different with her.
Succession is airing now on HBO and Max.
