{"id":61135,"date":"2022-07-27T00:07:08","date_gmt":"2022-07-27T00:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=61135"},"modified":"2022-07-27T00:08:40","modified_gmt":"2022-07-27T00:08:40","slug":"mrs-harris-goes-to-paris-costume-designer-jenny-beavan","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/mrs-harris-goes-to-paris-costume-designer-jenny-beavan\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris’ Costume Designer Hopes Viewers Find a ‘Moment of Joy’ Watching the Film"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Roxane Duran stars as Marguerite, Bertrand Poncet as Monsieur Carr\u00e9 and Lesley Manville as Mrs. Harris in director Tony Fabian\u2019s MRS.HARRIS GOES TO PARIS, a Focus Features release. (Credit: D\u00e1vid Luk\u00e1cs \/ \u00a9 2021 Ada Films Ltd – Harris Squared Kft)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the same way that New York City is the fifth main character in Sex and the City<\/em>, the fashion-forward costumes in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris<\/em> act the same way. Thanks to three-time Academy Award-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan, the wardrobe transports us to mid-century opulence.<\/p>\n

With 11 Oscar nominations under her belt and three wins, the English costume designer (who took home Oscars statues for 1986\u2019s A Room with a View<\/em>, 2015\u2019s Mad Max: Fury Road<\/em>, and 2021\u2019s Cruella)<\/em>\u00a0is an expert in utilizing dress as an integral storytelling tool and fusing fashion and film<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Her latest work tells a tale that steals one’s heart. Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris<\/em> is so sugary sweet, it\u2019ll make your teeth hurt but she was “charmed by the story,” Beavan tells GRAZIA USA<\/em>. “It’s lovely to talk about. I have to say, it brings back great memories.” Based on the 1958 novel by Paul Gallico, the Anthony Fabian-directed film follows Phantom Thread<\/em> actress Lesley Manville as the widowed cleaning lady Mrs. Harris. Having worked with Manville before on the miniseries Cranford<\/em>, Beavan said, “Any chance to work with her, I would simply jump at.”<\/p>\n

Providing an endless amount of emotional support and a trusty shoulder to cry on for her clients, Harris often finds herself getting the short end of the stick. When cleaning the home of one her wealthiest clients, Lady Dant (who, ironically must cut back on their housekeeping payments), Mrs. Harris encounters a lavish Christian Dior<\/a> confection, perched upon a chair. The world seems to stop spinning and heavenly lights shine on the bespoke creation while Mrs. Harris has an almost transcendental experience \u2013 you can almost hear angels singing. She reverently holds up the Ravissante, a strapless belted A-line creation, intricately embroidered with delicate floral appliqu\u00e9s. “Isn’t it divine?” Lady Dant asks. “The moment I laid eyes on Ravissante, I was ravished to the tune of 500 pounds.”<\/p>\n

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Lesley Manville stars as Mrs. Harris in director Tony Fabian\u2019s MRS.HARRIS GOES TO PARIS, a Focus Features release. (Credit: D\u00e1vid Luk\u00e1cs \/ \u00a9 2021 Ada Films Ltd – Harris Squared Kft)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sparking a new dream to own a couture Christian Dior gown, Mrs. Harris embarks on an extraordinary journey, exploring wealth disparities, the class system, making your own luck, the value of being a good person, and testing the theory that good things come to those who wait.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Harris she saves just enough to make it to Paris for one night, and purchase a Christian Dior gown from the boutique and atelier at 30 Avenue de Montaigne.<\/p>\n

Describing the Ravissante as “the dress that starts the whole story going,” Beavan explained, “It [had] to catch Mrs Harris\u2019s imagination more than just any dress. loral seemed to be right and a relatively soft color as it was bought by and had to appeal to Lady Dant as played by Anna Chancellor.”<\/p>\n

A reinterpretation of one of Monsieur Dior\u2019s Spring\/Summer 1949 Haute Couture cocktail creations, Beavan had some help from the French Maison\u2019s archival team. Jokingly describing director Anthony Fabian as \u201cvery naughty,\u201d Beavan was originally under the impression that she would be working alongside<\/em> Dior, while in reality, the heavy lifting was up to her.<\/p>\n

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Lambert Wilson stars as Marquis de Chassange and Lesley Manville as Mrs. Harris in director Tony Fabian\u2019s MRS.HARRIS GOES TO PARIS, a Focus Features release. (Credit: D\u00e1vid Luk\u00e1cs \/ \u00a9 2021 Ada Films Ltd – Harris Squared Kft)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI think everyone assumed they had the dresses in their archives, and they would be allowed to be worn,\u201d she explains. Describing a wonderful afternoon with Dior\u2019s Chief Archivist Madame Soizic Pfaff, Beavan combed through \u201cbeautifully kept dresses,\u201d and \u201cdrawers of gorgeous things.\u201d However, not much was kept from the ’50s. \u201cThey didn\u2019t realize the importance of keeping pieces,\u201d Beavan says. \u201cThey had no idea what [the process] would become. They used to make their collection, sell it, move on, and start a new collection.\u201d<\/p>\n

With five Dior replicas from the Heritage collection on loan, and an outsourced authentic Dior Porto Rico dress, Beavan and her team were tasked with recreating the rest of the garments to appear in the film.<\/p>\n

Out of all the transportive, sumptuous creations in the film, two particular dresses stand out, as though they are individual characters in their own right. After Mrs. Harris manages to get herself through the snobbish naysayers (including the cruel and equally chic gatekeeper Claudine Colbert, portrayed by Isabelle Huppert), insisting that her money is just as green as anyone else’s, she finds herself front-row at the couturier’s runway presentation. The kind-hearted housekeeper falls in love with two gowns named Temptation and Venus.<\/p>\n

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Alba Baptista stars as Natasha in director Tony Fabian\u2019s MRS.HARRIS GOES TO PARIS, a Focus Features release. (Credit: D\u00e1vid Luk\u00e1cs \/ \u00a9 2021 Ada Films Ltd – Harris Squared Kft)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While Mrs. Harris sets her sights on the emerald Venus gown at first, her heart is taken by the shimmering burgundy Temptation dress modeled down the runway by Alba Baptista who plays Natasha. “The Temptation is based on [the Dior gown] Dioblotine, which I saw in the archives,” Beavan says. “It’s a wonderful red dress, around the color we managed to end up with. It’s got hand-sewn sequins all over it. It must have taken a long time. There’s a certain depth to the red.”<\/p>\n

Having to make two to accommodate the shapes of both Manville and Baptista, COVID-19 threw a wrench in the wardrobe team’s plans. “Finding the fabric in COVID times was quite a journey, as you can imagine,” Beavan shares.<\/p>\n

\"\"Roxane Duran stars as Marguerite, Bertrand Poncet as Monsieur Carr\u00e9 and Lesley Manville as Mrs. Harris in director Tony Fabian\u2019s MRS.HARRIS GOES TO PARIS, a Focus Features release. (Credit: D\u00e1vid Luk\u00e1cs \/ \u00a9 2021 Ada Films Ltd – Harris Squared Kft)<\/span><\/p>\n

After Mrs. Harris discovers the red Temptation had been taken by an exclusive<\/em> buyer, she chooses to purchase the Venus instead. “It had to be something she would react to, because it’s originally the one she wants,” Beavan says. “Story-wise, it still had to be a really lovely dress; one that you can see in its various stages of being made. They went into full storytelling mode, even though they are absolutely based on Dior shapes. All of Dior’s dresses of that type basically had a built-in corset to hold the body in the perfect shape for the dress.”<\/p>\n

As one of the most prolific houses in fashion history, Christian Dior’s rich heritage is synonymous with its 1947 New Look silhouette. Following World War II, the prosperous peacetime period saw many women coveting an ultra-feminine look. Dior molded women into hourglass figures, with its sheer opulence and excess in material following wartime restrictions, the billowing “inverted flower” shape blossomed in popularity. “The real pressure on the film was recreating Dior,” she admits, “and to honor Dior, because that isn’t the easiest thing.”<\/p>\n

Mrs. Harris may have gotten to go to Paris, but Jenny Beavan did not. Filming in Budapest\u00a0amid the COVID-19 pandemic with a limited budget, and a lofty task at hand, Beavan and her team were still able to move mountains. “If you have the right people in the right places, you can actually do a lot.”<\/p>\n

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Costume designer Jenny Beavan and director Tony Fabian on the set of MRS.HARRIS GOES TO PARIS, a Focus Features release. (Credit: D\u00e1vid Luk\u00e1cs \/ \u00a9 2021 Ada Films Ltd – Harris Squared Kft)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like the pro she is, she got the task done and in the end and hopes “viewers forget all the horrible things going on in the world at the moment, and have a moment of joy like Mrs. Harris did, honestly. Mrs. Harris is a welcome distraction and I hope people just forget everything for the duration of the movie.”<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s next for the award-winning designer? She\u2019s working on the post-apocalyptic wardrobe for the 2024 film Furiosa<\/em>, prequel to the 2015 flick Mad Max: Fury Road<\/em> which garnered Beavan the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. We can’t wait to see what else she has up her sleeve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31863,"featured_media":61141,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[38,17,3324,16],"yoast_head":"\nMrs. Harris Goes to Paris Costume Designer Jenny Beavan Interview<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Oscar-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan chats with GRAZIA USA about her latest film, \u2018Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris'\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/mrs-harris-goes-to-paris-costume-designer-jenny-beavan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris' Costume Designer Hopes Viewers Find a 'Moment of Joy' Watching the Film\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" 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