Costume Designer (on The Lost Daughter) Edward K. Gibbon — That’s Not My Age

Did you get the stripy t-shirt memo? Photo: Claire Pepper. 

For my latest podcast episode I’m delighted to introduce a very special guest; esteemed costume designer, and dear friend, Edward K Gibbon. We met many years ago as students in Manchester, ended up sharing a flat together and spent more time at the Haçienda than we did in the library. Edward switched courses to study graphic design, and upon graduating re-trained as a tailor. Relocating to London, he established himself as a costume designer for theatre and opera until an offer came along to work on the cult TV show Skins. ‘It was the perfect job for me. The show was so brilliant and groundbreaking, and it didn’t matter to them that I didn’t know what the hell I was doing half the time. It was great.’

As a costume designer, he’s managed the wardrobe department on everything from historical dramas to Hollywood movies: including War & Peace, The Honourable Woman, Black Mirror and Oscar-nominated The Lost Daughter. Adapted from the Elena Ferrante novel, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s acclaimed directorial debut stars: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley (both up for Oscars, along with Gyllenhaal for best adapted screenplay), Ed Harris, Dakota Johnson and Paul Mescal. And because the crew were working in a support bubble, Edward makes an appearance as an extra on the dancefloor…

Olivia Colman wearing Palmer Harding. Image: Yannis Drakoulidis/Netflix

Olivia Colman wearing MaxMara in The Lost Daughter. Image: Yannis Drakoulidis/Netflix. Enter Edward stage right…

In this episode, Edward joins me to talk about filming The Lost Daughter as we came out of the first lockdown, the role costume plays in storytelling, the creative process and where he sources custom pieces. Along the way, he shares some of the highlights of his career (mostly collaborating with Maggie Gyllenhaal!), impostor syndrome and what it’s like to work away from home for extended periods. And of course, we cover the usual topics of age and style.

I hope you enjoy the episode as much as I enjoyed recording it.

Listen here:

Edward always has a number of books on the go and is currently reading: To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara, an autobiography of Tennessee Williams, Agent Sonya by Ben MacIntrye and Ben Kelly’s Haçienda Landscapes.

As I’ve just started going back to the cinema, I asked him for some film recommendations: The Duke, Coda, After Love, Ali & Ava and Flee.

And we’re all looking forward to a summer holiday this year:

PODCAST LINKS

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PODCAST CREDITS

Producer and audio engineer: Linda Ara-Tebaldi

Host: Alyson Walsh

Guest: Edward K Gibbon

Music: David Schweitzer

Artwork: Ayumi Takahashi

Coordinator: Helen Johnson

*Due to the pandemic the That’s Not My Age podcast is now recorded using a web-based application on my computer. It is odd not being in a room with someone, not seeing a person’s facial expression or knowing if they’re about to continue talking…But it also means we can go global!

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