“For Bird, it was essential that he didn’t have that dress coding at all”: In conversation with costume designer Alex Bovaird

Frank Rogowski as Bird in “Bird”, 2024. BBC Films, BFI, MUBI

It’s been years since I saw Fish Tank and I still think of it as special and raw, this disarming, intimate family chronicle and unsparing yet humorous and non-judgmental look at working-class Britain. American Honey, too, almost a decade after its release, I vividly recall, this road journey that captured the midland-American youth culture with electrifying energy as it follows a mag crew of kids selling magazines door-to-door. A harsh milieu, characters on the margins of society, social commentaries rooted in the power of the characters. They are realistic, yes, but the stories exhibit insight and humanism. Andrea Arnold’s cinema engages our attention in the most natural and honest way.

In her latest feature film, Bird, 12 year old Bailey lives in a town in Kent, England, with her father, Bug (Barry Keoghan), and her brother. Just like Katie Jarvis, who played Mia in Fish Tank, and Sasha Lane who played Star in American Honey, Nykya Adams is a newcomer, and she inhabits the role with the naturalness of a girl who is just being herself. Bailey has a broken home, an unreliable father, an absent mother, her world is bleak, and confused and chaotic, fueled by poverty, violence and drugs, and she’s defiant and desperate to seek adventure in her brother’s gang. And yet, there is no easy sentiment in portraying Bailey, or any other character. We see a girl struggling to reconcile everyday realities with her teenage angst and uncertainty and a yearning for being understood. It’s when she finds and embraces kindness and a streak of fantasy – when she encounters a mysterious man, Bird (Frank Rogowski) – that you root for her and our own emotions resonate most powerfully. The small gestures of friendship, of connection between Bailey and a stranger become moments of goodness and kindred-ship when she needs it most. This film, equally bitingly realistic and poetic, feels genuinely alive especially when tenderness is sneaking in, and hope seems to arise from nowhere and there is the promise of tomorrow.

Andrea Arnold believes in cinema and in what only cinema can do, and us viewers believe in her visual stories shaped by people of so many crafts that come together to make this whole happen. Costume designer Alex Bovaird (True Detective, Nope, The White Lotus) has worked with Arnold on both American Honey and Bird and I have recently had the privilege to talk to her about making movies.

In our interview, Alex shares her eye-opening experience on working on American Honey, her first collaboration with Andrea Arnold, why she and Andrea both love getting out in the world and being inspired by real people, why sometimes actors are encouraged to wear what they feel is right for them or why she chose to dress Franz Rogowski ambiguously in Bird – it’s all about holding onto the truth of the story.

Nykya Adams as Bailey and Barry Keoghan as Bug in “Bird”, 2024. BBC Films, BFI, MUBI

First of all, congratulations on your latest feature film, Bird. Can you tell me how did you come to work with director Andrea Arnold on this project?

Thank you! I had worked with Andrea Arnold on her film American Honey and it had been a seminal experience for me as a costume designer and collaborator. Andrea asked me to come to the UK and work on Bird and I was very lucky that the timing worked out.

How did you approach costuming the film? Did you follow the script, were there other sources apart from the script that you drew from when developing the looks? Was the director a big part of the costume process or is it more a conversation about characters and their evolution?

I make boards for the world of the story, for the mood of the piece and for each character. The boards are collages of inspirations and looks that I collect from contemporary photography, paintings, movies and a lot of real life observations. I break down the script to digest all the information contained within the writing and to know what situations the characters are in and what they will need practically. Andrea and I both love getting out in the world and being inspired by real people, so I spent a lot of time all over Kent and Essex, gathering things from markets and shops, as well as noticing and photographing the locals.

You mention movies as one of your inspirations. Were there any particular movies you watched as research for Bird?

I rewatched all of Andrea’s movies, some Mike Leigh, the most recent series of Top Boy. Tom Wood is a contemporary photographer that I was inspired by.

”Dressing Bird ambiguously helped us to stay puzzled
about who he is and what his role is for Bailey.”

Both Bailey and Bird have noticeably androgynous qualities and what they wear are key to that. How did you develop their respective looks?

Nykiya Adams, who plays Bailey, was a schoolgirl cast on the playground by Andrea’s team. She was much more comfortable in tracksuits and basketball shorts than in anything fitted or more typically feminine, so we leaned into that accordingly and it suited Bailey’s rough and tumble life. Bird on the page was mysterious, other worldly and strange – but was also very rooted in a sense of this place, Gravesend, so he couldn’t look too magical. We tried on the skirts in the fitting and it just seemed to click, they gave Franz a way to move that felt ethereal and we kept him in earth tones. Dressing him ambiguously helped us to stay puzzled about who he is and what his role is for Bailey.

Has it ever happened that an actor felt that he/she fully got into their character only when they tried on their costume? I am especially thinking of Barry Keoghan’s heavily tattooed Bug. His tattoos are more defining than any piece of clothing.

I think the tattoos speak very loudly and that was intentional – he announces his place in the world and his history is written all over him. I was involved in the research for these along with the make-up artist and Andrea, and the costume was a little bit on the backseat to the tattoos.

Barry Keoghan in “Bird”, 2024. BBC Films, BFI, MUBI

And where does one start with researching for the creation of a tattoo that is so defining for a character?

I made a board with references on, I looked at British white rappers like Slo Thai and Milkavelli and then visited tattoo shops in South East London like GB TaCoo on Bexley Road in Erith. Bug has been getting tattoos for years, so the idea is that he would have a mix of styles. I handed the research over to the make-up artist who had her own tattoo artist on hand and we hashed it out with Andrea who was the arbiter of making Bug real and not too “hip”.

“It is always a collaboration between the actor, director and I.”

Was there anything in particular you felt you needed to insist on because you felt it was important for shaping up a certain character?

I never insist on a costume if it’s in contention; it is always a collaboration between the actor, director and I – but I will put forward my reasons for the choices I made and make the case if I feel they don’t know why it’s in the fitting room. The shoes that Franz wears are Keens hiking shoes and looked slightly like bird claws and would give him nimbleness as well as being purposefully nondescript. Franz really wanted to understand why he would have chosen them and I maintained that for his character it was essential he didn’t have that dress coding at all.

Frank Rogowski in “Bird”, 2024. BBC Films, BFI, MUBI

And just as important as it is to have a nondescript piece of costume for Bird, having a loud piece of clothing for other characters has its own reasons as well: the bridesmaids’ costumes. Who came up with the idea for them?

That was written in the script – leopard print catsuits. In the end, we made a few versions and the sparkly purple leopard fabric won!

Were you on the set every day? How does it usually work, is it different on every project?

Yes, I am there at costume call, which is just before the actors and supporting artists are getting ready, and I stay most of the day, until nothing new is walking on camera and everything is set up and ready for the next day. Some jobs that are longer or contain big action sequences allow me to leave set more often.

It’s important for Andrea for it to be realistic,
but then to turn up the volume and shine a little.”

A costume designer’s job is to reinforce the story and help the actor form an identity of his/her character. But what exactly goes into the work of a costume designer today? How much ready-made shopping, how much vintage and how much making did the costumes in Bird involve?

On contemporary projects like this, almost all of the clothing is bought. I got it all locally in Kent and Essex and a good deal was second hand or from local outdoor markets. We did some remaking and a good deal of alterations, but it’s all gleaned from the surroundings of Gravesend – if I could pay someone for the clothes they were wearing, I would! It’s important for Andrea for it to be realistic, but then to turn up the volume and shine a little.

Nykya Adams in “Bird”, 2024. BBC Films, BFI, MUBI

This realism is one of the reasons we love Andrea Arnold’s films. Nothing is left to chance in a good movie, which reminds me about what everybody’s wearing in the fringes of films. Background players are so important for the look of a film and for its authenticity. How do you address dressing the extras?

We send out notes in advance, but we are hoping that they will look good as “themselves” and maybe spice them up if the scene calls for it, like the wedding scene or when we went to the seaside. We have racks of clothes and usually give them an outfit if they have to play in it again. Both Andrea and I love our background actors and on Bird they were called “locals”, to help them stay true to who they were.

All these details are paramount for the immersive experience we live when we watch a film in a cinema. Movies are designed to be seen on the larger screen for many reasons. What does the movie theater experience mean to you?

It’s the most immersive way to see a film and the best way to give it the attention it deserves. Even if I am watching a movie at home on a big screen, I am tempted to do something else at the same time! Our brains are getting used to flitting around on different things… At the cinema, you give yourself to the experience, can fully appreciate all the detail, the sound design, the score and all the other elements so carefully considered for your journey.

Alex, at the beginning of the interview you mentioned American Honey, your first collaboration with Andrea Arnold, and a film that captured the midland-American youth culture with electrifying energy. Since it’s been almost a decade since it was released, would you like to share one of the most memorable experiences from working on that film?

Working on American Honey was an unforgettable experience. We lived in the hotels with the cast and travelled the actual road trip route in convoy. It was a real eye opener to the deepest parts of America and its psyche. My most potent memories are of hanging out with the Mag Crew kids and watching them have the experience of being part of a film. Other than Shia LaBeouf and Riley Keough, they were all street cast and I loved shepherding them in and out of costume every night as we moved across this wild and crazy country.

Alex, thank you for taking us on this journey with you.

Sasha Lane as Star in “American Honey”, 2016. Maven Pictures, BFI