In Bridgerton, fashion’s past and present collide with glorious results, creating a stylish world that designer Ifeanyi Okwuadi saw as rife with creative possibility. Tapped by the British Fashion Council, Okwuadi is one of three up-and-coming fashion designers who were tasked with designing outfits inspired by the Shonda Rhimes show. After being mentored by British designer Jenny Packham for this project, Okwuadi (along with Latifa Neyazi and Jeongmin Ji) saw his clothes modeled by some of the Bridgerton stars — in his case, the titular Bridgerton brothers, Colin (Luke Newton) and Benedict (Luke Thompson). A menswear designer who took the Grand Prix at the prestigious Hyères festival last year, the 28-year-old Okwuadi felt uniquely equipped to tackle the assignment. Not only has he learned the time-honored secrets of tailoring and craftsmanship from the masters on Savile Row, he’s also interned with several buzzy British labels, ranging from sporty Wales Bonner to avant-garde Gareth Pugh, and has a real interest in the Regency era.
Historical dress has long been a fascination of Okwuadi’s. Even before the Bridgerton project came across his desk, he was studying the clothes of the era as inspiration for his first collection. “Regency, for menswear specifically, is my favorite period of time,” he tells Tudum, citing Beau Brummell, the dandy fashion plate who turned dressing well into a whole lifestyle, as an inspiration. “I loved picking apart all the little details in the clothes, but also the way society worked. Like men and women had these certain positions within society, and they definitely were not equal, but it wasn’t as regressive as it had been up to that point, you know?”
Okwuadi’s sketches for the two Regency-inspired looks he created for the Bridgerton brothers.
For this project, Okwuadi channeled Brummell’s sense of daring and flamboyance into outfits that he based on the popular styles of the day but interpreted with a modern eye. He presented three options to Newton and Thompson, ranging from more traditional to more expressive — both ended up choosing the more formal looks to model. For Newton, that translated into a slightly cropped, boxy jacket paired with straight-leg pants, while Thompson modeled a morning coat with tails. Okwuadi worked with the actors on updating the silhouettes, giving the morning coat exaggerated lapels, prominent sleeve heads (aka the seam that joins the sleeve and shoulder) and structured trousers that gave the look a sense of ceremony. Both looks were crafted in a pattern inspired by the motifs found on iconic British Wedgwood ceramics and plates, a blue-and-cream toile de Jouy that was made using a printing process known as cyanotype.
Okwuadi relished the chance to navigate the disparate aspects of Bridgerton, like the way it merges fantasy with history, and created designs that take the dress codes of the past and flip them on their head. “In my work I’m not afraid of broaching sensitive subjects or taking on history,” he says. “It’s about the narratives; it’s about connecting to something relevant today, but also learning from the past.”
Luke Newton (Colin Bridgerton) and Luke Thompson (Benedict Bridgerton) dressed in Okwuadi’s cyanotype-printed suits.
A particular challenge for Okwuadi was adapting the cyanotype process for contemporary times. His reason for using it was twofold: First, it was a popular technique of the Regency era, and second, it allowed him to create a customized pattern that incorporated flourishes that reflect the characters who wore it. (Colin’s outfit has a sailboat, a nod to his love of travel; Benedict’s features figure models, a reference to his life as an aesthete.) The process itself is environmentally friendly and relies on the sun to bake the pattern into natural fibers. However, London’s typically overcast, rainy weather made the execution a bit worrisome. The end results ended up having a sort of faded, aged look that Okwuadi really appreciated — a sentiment he felt about the project as a whole.
“I loved working within these sorts of frameworks,” Okwuadi says. “I was nervous because I thought, ‘How much do I open myself and my eye? How much of myself do I bring into the world of Bridgerton and the Regency period?’ ”
Well, it seems like he brought just the right amount; the outfits are modern, elegant, romantic and handsome. One could easily say they’re fit for a ball.
Go behind the scenes of the British Fashion Council x Bridgerton photo shoot with Charithra Chandran, Luke Newton, Luke Thompson, Ruth Gemmell and Golda Rosheuvel here.
