Made in Madrid:The Spanish tailors outfitting world cinema
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With a vast wardrobe catering to everything from 鈥淗ouse of the Dragon鈥 to 鈥淭he Crown,鈥 Spain鈥檚 Peris Costumes has carved out a well-tailored niche for itself, renting costumes to producers across the globe.
鈥淗ere, you can find everything,鈥 said CEO Javier Toledo showing off a vast array of costumes and accessories 鈥 from suits of armor to frock coats, sailor suits and monastic robes.
All around him mannequins dressed in 18th-century gowns stand next to posters of the many films his company has worked on in recent years.
鈥淭here are starting to be rather a lot,鈥 admitted the 63-year-old entrepreneur with white hair and a neatly trimmed goatee whose business is based in Algete, a small town just outside Madrid.
Since Toledo took over 10 years ago, the business has been transformed.
What began as a small family firm set up by tailors specializing in theater costumes in the eastern coastal city of Valencia in 1856 has become a world leader in costume hire for the film industry.
And it鈥檚 a success story closely linked to the rise of on-demand streaming giants such as Netflix, Disney+ and HBO.
鈥淲e have responded to the changes that have taken place in the market,鈥 he said, pointing notably to the explosion in popularity 鈥渙f the series.鈥
When he bought the company, Peris Costumes only had a dozen staff, all based in Madrid.
Today, the group employs 250 people and has offices or workshops in 15 capital cities, including Budapest, Berlin, Paris and Mexico City.
鈥淒uring the first half of the year, we were involved in almost 600 productions. And by the end of the year we鈥檙e hoping that will be more than 1,000,鈥 said marketing director Myriam Wais.
Among the films and series that have chosen the company are numerous super-productions which are very demanding in terms of period or fantasy costumes.
Whether it鈥檚 鈥淭he Rings of Power,鈥 鈥淢ulan鈥 or 鈥淢arco Polo,鈥 many productions prefer to rent costumes rather than invest in making their own.
鈥淭rying to make (the costumes) from scratch is practically impossible because of the time and costs involved,鈥 said Toledo.
And producers appreciate 鈥渉aving costumes that have been worn in and aged with time,鈥 he explained.
To expand its catalogue, Peris Costumes has in recent years has bought up millions of gowns, hats, pairs of shoes and uniforms from studio giants like Warner Bros.
And all these complement its own in-house collections put together in the workshops of its costume designers.
鈥淚n total, we have more than 10 million articles鈥 of clothing and accessories, said Wais, reeling off a list of the most popular styles and eras.
It is, she said, 鈥渢he biggest wardrobe in the world.鈥
In a nearby room, four garment makers are working with pieces of leather, with a hammer-like maul and pliers on hand.
鈥淩ight now, we鈥檙e working on our inventory but there are also orders,鈥 she said.
In another room is the jewelry workshop, where close to 20,000 pieces are stored, including the jewels worn by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 epic 鈥淐leopatra鈥 and the papal cross worn by Jude Law in the 2016 series 鈥淭he Young Pope鈥.
At Peris Costumes, the rule is to never throw anything away, not even if it is damaged during filming.
鈥淲e have an area called 鈥楾he Walking Dead鈥 in which we put everything that is broken or damaged but that could be reused,鈥 Wais said, the term referencing a TV series about zombie apocalypse survivors.
With demand showing little sign of ebbing, this Spanish outfitter has recently started digitizing some of its catalogue with the help of a studio equipped with 144 high-resolution cameras.
Dubbed Peris Digital, this service lets production companies 鈥渃reate 3D images鈥 of costumes which can be used 鈥渄uring post-production鈥, Wais said.
And this 鈥渧irtual wardrobe鈥 has also proved popular with the makers of video games, the company said.
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