Interview: In ‘Gladiator II,’ Costume Designer Janty Yates Turns Rome into Her Runway

Costume designer Janty Yates has time-traveled around the world with Ridley Scott for decades. From the 1970s of House of Gucci to Outer Space in Prometheus and The Martian, and most recently, The French Revolution in Napoleon, Scott always keeps Yates on her toes creatively. Through each of their collaborations, she’s shown remarkable attention to detail, always putting a refreshing twist on the looks viewers may associate with the environments on screen.  

The most important journey for the pair, though, has undoubtedly been their time spent in the Roman Empire, where they first teamed up on the Best Picture-winning historical epic, Gladiator. Yates received her first Academy Award nomination and ultimately won for her impeccably designed costumes, including military uniforms, imperial regalia, and an important piece worn by Maximus that resurfaces in her latest film, Gladiator II. Yates was thrilled to return to the world that she and Scott first built together just over twenty years ago, not just because she got to return to a period in history that she loves but also because it meant that she could continue to uncover and showcase new designs and character details. While the white and gold accents on the evil twin Emperors and the fabulous draping on Lucilla’s gowns shine, Yates was most drawn to Macrinus, the film’s shifty, clever crown jewel, played perfectly by Denzel Washington in one of the year’s most magnetic movie star performances. In Erik Anderson’s review of the film for AwardsWatch, he called Yates’ work on Macrinus her “greatest achievement, the capes and gowns worn by Washington, who sashays in them like he’s on the runway, fingers full of rings, ears adorned with giant hoops in a way that says ‘adore me’ and ‘fear me’ in equal measure.” The creation of Macrinus was a chance for both Yates and Washington to showcase some of the best work in their illustrious careers. 

In my conversation with Yates, we spoke about her beautiful work on the film, her collaborative partners, and the joy of returning to Ancient Rome. We also spoke at length about the importance of a costume designer in helping an actor discover their character and how the fashions found in the swords and sandals epics of yesteryear differ from her constructions. Elizabeth Taylor and Gladiator are somehow always connected. 

Sophia Ciminello: Thank you for speaking with me today, and congratulations on Gladiator II!

Janty Yates: Nice to meet you. I’m so excited! I’ve been beside myself for the last few days.

SC: Oh, I’m sure. And you’re revisiting Rome and a new version of the world that you, Ridley, and the crew created with Gladiator. What is it about the history of this time period that’s inspiring to you as a designer?

JY: Oh well, I love it. I absolutely love it. I revisited all my research, obviously from Gladiator, but I was so fortunate this time around because I had the amazing David Crossman, who took all the military off my shoulders. With Gladiator, I was responsible for the Praetorians, for the Germans, well, for all of everything, the whole film. This time, he did all of the gladiators. There were 150 of them, and I only had to bother with thirteen or fourteen of them back in the day. He also did the Roman legionaries. He did such a beautiful job. So, that left me just fiddling about with pretty fabrics. 

SC: I wanted to ask you about David and your collaboration because I know you also worked together on all of the military costumes in Napoleon. What is your collaborative process like with him?

JY: To be honest, I don’t think I could have done both because, with Napoleon, he did the Russian army, the Prussian army, the Austrian army, the Cossacks, he did forty regiments in the French army, the British army, and they were all different. Plus, he did a few others along the way, you know. It was extraordinary what he did. Plus, he was getting casting details quite late, so he was having all the embroidery done in Pakistan. How he got that done was a miracle. Every time a new general came along, you know, with a different size or a 46-inch chest or something. And how he did it, he was a genius. 

SC: I want to talk about the embroidery and the fabrics that you got to play with. I think we could spend our entire conversation talking about Macrinus and Denzel Washington’s costumes. He was my favorite character in the film.

JY: Mine too!

SC: He’s so much fun to watch. It’s the way he walks in those robes and twirls his rings. What did you want to convey about his character through what he was wearing and how he was wearing it? 

JY: Well, I was so surprised to see how Denzel worked his costumes. He was always, you know, puffing up his cloaks or his togas or just doing another wrap around his wrists. And he was very pro his costumes, but I never thought he’d be full on. I never thought he’d actually work them and use them as such a bonus to his character and his rings and his earrings and everything. We were inspired. Ridley was inspired, and I always take my lead from Ridley. I’m just the facilitator, and he was very keen on Orientalist artists of the 19th century, for example, Jean-Joseph Benjamin Constant. They were magnificent. A lot of them were guards who had these very wide belts, and they’d always have a huge scimitar, and a cloak, and they’d usually have a turban. We did try Denzel in turbans, and I thought he looked magnificent, but he and Ridley decided, no, he’d go bareheaded. But I was delighted with the earrings, because they just say Orientalist, don’t they? You know, it’s not exactly a normal Denzel look. 

SC: Those earrings really are a perfect touch. 

JY: Really. It really helped. He also wore this big chunky jewelry and those bangles. He wore ten rings and huge, great ornate belts. So he was really accessorized up the swanny. 

SC: You chose some great colors for him too, because they really differ from the bright white robes of the other characters. He’s usually in darker colors, a deep maroon or a navy with those gold accents. How did you decide on his color palette in particular?

JY: Well, he had to have authority. And, you know, I think he said he drew his authority from his costume, which was very nice, very sweet of him. But basically, he had very little pattern. And you’re right. He would have gold, but nothing bright in his wardrobe. His brights were dark in his costumes. 

SC: When I’ve spoken with actors previously, they often mention that sometimes they feel like they don’t fully know their character until they put part of their costume on. Did you see a particular moment like this during the shoot, where another actor just clicked into their role when they put on a certain costume? 

JY: Well, the emperors, my God. I mean, they had never, ever seen anything like that. So, it was the first fitting with Joe [Quinn] and the first fitting with Fred [Hechinger]. He’s going, “What, what, what and more? What, what, and this?” So, they really did get their hook. Absolutely. I’m very, very pro actors getting their hook in costume. I feel it’s a little sort of unseen pat on the back for the costume team. We get very few pats on the back. But, yes, I think it was true for everyone.

But Connie, not so much actually. The other way we went with Connie was that we started off by doing her up, very haute couture, sort of ‘’50s/’60s draping, but much simpler. In the end, we didn’t really like it. Ridley didn’t like it, and Connie wasn’t that keen. And so we ended up draping her with glorious fabrics that were embroidered from either her head or her waist or around her neck. She had three or four drapes per outfit. She was much happier. Ridley was much happier. 

SC: She had really beautiful costumes that felt like a twist on what we typically see in historical films. Did you look at fabrics and details from those swords and sandals epics of the ‘50s and ‘60s as part of your research process?

JY: I had inspiration from all those films to really not do it that way. It was awful because I went to Pirouzi, where we got many of our exquisite crowd costumes. They came from Ben-Hur and Cleopatra, and they were beautifully embroidered; you can’t get that done in Italy anymore. There’s no one who really can do it, and it’s so expensive. So when I was there, the owner showed me Elizabeth Taylor’s dresses from Cleopatra.  They were polyester and they were nylon. They had built-in bras and corsets.

SC: (Laughs) Not what we want.

JY: (Laughs) Take a lighter to it and the whole thing would have gone up! For Elizabeth Taylor’s dresses anyway. They were sort of thin and red or thin and orange, and I thought, I’m not going to do it like that. So, we just picked the most beautiful fabrics. I bought fabrics in Paris and Lyon and, of course, in Rome and Prato as well, which is north of Florence. It’s a great fabric outlet. Then, we would literally just drape on a mannequin; each outfit would be draped. My assistant is a wonderful draper. Her name is Melissa Moritz, and she helped me so much by putting fabrics together. We’d sit there for hours adding, taking away trim, you know, adding jewels, taking it away. That was the fun part of the job. 

SC: And we have to talk a bit about Paul Mescal, who is really starting to get a lot of attention outside of the film for his street style and how he’s influencing menswear for his generation. Do you ever feel inspired by an actor and how you think they might wear a particular costume when you’re in the design phase? 

JY: Always, always. Because when you’re initially buying fabrics, which is sort of what gets you going, you’ve done all your research, you’ve researched the granny out of things and then you’ve got to take your actor. Connie was simple because I’d done her before. She’s six feet tall and she’s a clothes horse. She’s beautiful. Denzel, I’d worked with him before on American Gangster, and I know he can be a clothes horse as well because he’s got the height and the shoulders. Paul has really surprised me coming out of small, low-budget films, but he’s just been a complete revelation on the catwalk. Not on the catwalk, but around the catwalk. (Laughs)

SC: (Laughs) The city is his catwalk. 

JY: (Laughs) Exactly. The sidewalk is his catwalk. 

SC: That’s why we all thought he would be perfectly comfortable with a shorter skirt.

JY: Oh, yeah. Well, he loved it to bits. He loved all of his costumes, really. 

SC: As we wrap up, I always like to ask costume designers, if you could keep one item of clothing, piece of jewelry, or anything that you designed for the film, what would it be? 

JY: Oh, that’s a good question. I think possibly one of Denzel’s necklaces because they were quite unusual and quite lovely. I’d never wear it. I’d just have it in my closet and stroke it from time to time. 

SC: Oh, yeah, you have to pick a piece of his jewelry. Thank you so much, Janty, and again, congratulations on the movie.

JY: Thank you. It was a pleasure, an absolute pleasure.

Gladiator II is in theaters now from Paramount Pictures.