In the filmmaker’s latest, tailoring isn’t just aesthetic — it’s armour. His characters wear grief with the same precision they wear their suits
Wes Anderson’s films have always had characters who dress like they’re trying to keep their emotions from spilling out. Their shirts are crisp, suits are sharp, and their pain is hidden behind perfect tailoring.
In The Phoenician Scheme, Anderson’s latest pastel-hued film, the clothes take on even more meaning. The suits worn by Benicio del Toro’s character, a 1950s business tycoon named Zsa-Zsa Korda, are smart and sleek, but they also hide grief, paranoia and fear. He’s on the run in an imaginary Middle Eastern country, and every outfit feels like a disguise.
The costumes, by East London’s Taillour Ltd., include pinstripe suits, a safari set, and a traditional thobe. Together, they show not just power, but survival — like a man trying to hold himself together with buttons and fabric.
Del Toro called the clothes “50% of my performance,” crediting iconic costume designer Milena Canonero. She’s a long-time Anderson collaborator and four-time Oscar winner. “She builds your character from the ground up,” he said. “Even the underwear is from the right time period.”
Canonero almost said ‘no’ to Anderson’s idea of dressing all the businessmen similarly. “That’s a terrible idea,” she told CNN. “Why would we make everyone look the same? That’s been done too many times.”
But Taillour’s designers say Anderson’s brief was that the suits should show both power and absurdity. They looked to the 1930s and 1950s styles for inspiration — think William Powell or Herbert Marshall — while adding small twists to make each character unique.
Anderson has always cared deeply about costumes. In Rushmore (1998), Jason Schwartzman wore a blazer that made him look both boyish and overly grown-up. In The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Ben Stiller’s character mourned his wife in matching red tracksuits with his sons — grief in uniform.
The filmmaker himself once wore one of Bill Murray’s jackets from Tenenbaums to a press interview. He doesn’t just direct the look, but he lives it.
In The Life Aquatic (2004), we got the iconic red beanie. In The Darjeeling Limited (2007), actor Adrien Brody wore a grey suit with a belt instead of a tie, looking like a man barely keeping it together.
In Moonrise Kingdom (2012), a young boy’s oversized scout outfit became his shield. Brooklyn comedian Kelly Cooper summed it up best: “I want to cosplay as a millennial housewife who dresses like a Wes Anderson character.”
But behind the pastels and perfect lines, Anderson is saying something striking. “His genius,” says curator Eric Allen Hatch, “is in showing how people try to control a messy, sad world through symmetry, style, and a very good suit.”
