Courtesy of HBO

It’s been three years since the Game of Thrones grand finale aired, and given the swift success of its prequel House of the Dragon, audiences have been awaiting the return of George R.R. Martin’s fictional fantasy to HBO. Fans were captivated by the season 1 finale, which aired on Sunday, Oct. 23, and because we’re just not quite ready to leave the world of Westeros, GRAZIA USA caught up with costume designer Jany Temime, to talk about all-things wardrobe.

If anyone is capable of transporting us to fantastically fictional worlds through the power of dress, it’s Temime. The award-winning French costume designer has an unparalleled ability to suspend our disbelief through her other-worldly creations as seen in the Harry Potter franchise, James Bond movies Skyfall and Spectre, as well as Judy, Black Widow, and more.

Courtesy of HBO

House of the Dragon deals with complicated family dynamics, political alliances, court scheming, fealties, war and more, and through it all, every costume reveals hidden truths about where each characters’ loyalties lie, crafting a unique visual identity through exquisite silhouettes in luxe fabrications, intricate embroidery, and statement-making colors. “I must say, I do like the costumes,” Temime tells GRAZIA USA. “Maybe I shouldn’t say that, but I really think they look beautiful.”

King Viserys (Paddy Considine) and Princess Rhaenyra ( Milly Alcock) (Courtesy of HBO)

Set 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen, the HBO series is based on George R.R. Martin’s 2018 book Fire & Blood, and begins at the height of the Targaryen dynasty’s reign.

Temime signed on to the show while she was in quarantine amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the south of France, and that alone time allowed Temime to dive into her research, where she built the fantasy world and checked in with showrunners Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan J. Condal every few weeks.

Temime had only watched the final season of Game of Thrones and decided to “enter the world via the book” instead of catching up with the original series. “I thought it was very important to start fresh,” she explains. “We are in a different world. We are about 200 years earlier. It’s not in the winter, we are in the spring. We are at the peak of the Targaryen reign.”

Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) and Alicent (Emily Carey) preparing for the investiture ceremony (Courtesy of HBO)

She found inspiration by researching Oriental and Arabic civilizations for influence. “I was very inspired by the Moroccan bride when I was designing for the Rhaenyra investiture costume. I found an old image and she had very long earrings and something on the head, and that image just stayed with me,” she says. “I wanted the dress to look quite fragile. We see her getting dressed, and I wanted the first image to be of a girl. After that, she put the cape on. I wanted the cape to look heavy — and it actually was. But by putting the cape on, she put the whole kingdom on top of her shoulders.”

Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) is named heir to the Seven Kingdoms (Courtesy of HBO)

Temime also drew a significant amount of inspiration from Byzantine art. “I thought of the Byzantine [era] because it’s the very early days of the medieval times. That inspired me, since House of the Dragon is set two hundred years before Game of Thrones.”

Another reason Temime looked to the time period was “the use of their gold.” Throughout the season, all the main characters are drenched in gold with their necklaces, headpieces, brooches, rings, and all sorts of royal regalia. “It was important to think about the Byzantine time, because the gold means power,” she explains. “The rubies and the emeralds as well — everything means wealth.”

King Viserys (Paddy Considine) and Princess Rhaenyra ( Milly Alcock) (Courtesy of HBO)

Temime’s ideas come to life in scenes like when a young Princess Rhaenyra (played by Milly Alcock) has her silver tower of braids be-speckled with glimmering rubies for her wedding rehearsal celebration to Leanor Velaryon (Theo Nate). She’s dressed in a lavish gold embellished white gown with a substantial gold necklace for the occasion.

Later in the episode when the two are wed, the costume designer made sure Rhaenyra’s wedding cape was half Targaryen colors, insignia, and embroidery, and half that of her new husband’s from the House of Velaryon.

Colors play a huge role in the George R.R. Martin universe. Each family of stature is identified with their own sigils and colors. Red and black signify the colors of House Targaryen, while blue and gray are those of House Velaryon. The color assignments are so distinct, its led fans to choose their side of the budding war between Alicent’s side of the family and Rhaenyra’s as “Team Green,” and “Team Black.”

After a young Alicient Hightower (first played by Emily Carey and later, Olivia Cooke) is wed to King Viserys Targaryen, she often is seen in her husband’s family colors. “When Alicent is first married and being a nice wife before she discovered that lots of things are rotten in her kingdom, she is dressed up in black and red as a queen,” Temime explains.

Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey) (Courtesy of HBO)

After she is betrayed and completely alone, she enters Rhaenyra’s wedding celebration late, and in a significant emerald green gown. Associated with the history of her house, the beacon of the high tower glows green when Alicent’s native Oldtown sounds the alarm for war.

“I read that the Queen of England would always dress in very bright colors so people could see her in a crowd,” says Temime. “In this world, one of the only ways for [the characters] to express themselves is colors.”

The young Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey) making a statement in green (Courtesy of HBO)

“I remember when Queen Elizabeth wore a blue hat in the middle of Brexit,” she says. “That was her very subtle way of saying she was against Brexit. So, if Queen Elizabeth is doing it, why shouldn’t Alicent appear in full green to say, ‘No, I am a Hightower before I am a Targaryen.’”

Courtesy of HBO

The show’s armor made up some of Temime’s favorite pieces and was inspired by the Japanese. She also was inspired by traditional Japanese garb when dressing the older Princess Rhaenyra (played by Emma D’Arcy) weds Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), when they’re draped in identical sand-colored robes, trickled with red. Both their wedding ensembles and the ceremony evoked nods to the Old Valyrian civilization, when the Targaryen dynasty originated.

“I took my inspiration from the dragon handlers. They have a sort of kimono because they are thinkers,” she explains. Showrunner Ryan Condal had a “beautiful idea” that the dragon handlers be “a sort of philosophical sect, because you have to understand a dragon to make them listen to you.”

Courtesy of HBO

“I wanted the same [robes] for both because I wanted them to be equal,” she explains. “With the same dress and the same robe, the same way all the dragon handlers have the same, whatever they are female or male.” Temime sourced a neutral fine wool and had the team break down the fabric. With a special team to see to the dyeing, they accomplished the subtle drips of red after several tryouts. “Their wedding is an exchange of blood, very barbaric and archaic way of getting married and I wanted their robe to sort of equal that,” says Temime.

The only deviation in their wedding ensembles was Rhaenyra’s majestic headpiece. “It was inspired by Malaysian headpieces I found in an antique shop,” she says.

Courtesy of HBO

Another very memorable armored look came in the second-to-last episode of the season when Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best) emerged on dragon wearing a silver, black, and red breastplate.

“Well, I wanted something powerful but feminine,” Temime says. “And I had two female armor moments that were important. The first one is the one of Rhea, who was Daemon’s wife, that was killed. And she was in a leather breastplate. Rhaenys’ armor is much stronger because Rhaenys is a much bigger and strong character. I wanted to give her a more important armor, and I needed the shoulder for the cape. I think that the armor was very successful, but they’re not so heavy because they are made with plastic, so it’s not worse than wearing a corset, for instance.”

Courtesy of HBO

Temime says in the end, more than 2,500 costumes were created for the series by her team, which consisted of five assistants and two fabric buyers. They also had help from armorers, leather workers, and a jewelry department. Just like the many fan of the show, she’s enjoying watching her work come to life on screen.

“Usually, when you have been working on the show for almost two years like I did, you are not keen to see it because you just remember all the sweat [put in] as you were working on it,” Temime says. “I must say, I really enjoy myself watching it.”