A Picture of Dorian Gray

This costume was made for a hypothetical contemporary theatre adaption of Oscar Wilde’s much beloved novel. Under my assumption that Dorian was affluent and fashionable, I looked mainly at Spring/Summer 2020 menswear collections. This Suit is the first suit he would’ve worn in the production, and therefor would be the suit in the painting. I really wanted to forecast the Dorian’s Story to the audience, so I suggested the potential ‘evil’ with green, and with asymmetry. Taking inspiration from JW Anderson, and Dior I played with a mens silk dress scarf as a design feature, which is associated with black and white tie and therefor suggesting class. I also saw that rhinestones and diamanté were trending, brands such as AREA from NYC have capitalised on it, by making the ‘gaudy’ refined. I wanted to include this trend, in the form of a harness, to show his sexual character.

Photos taken by Harry Fraser