Dunkirk: Interview with costume designer Jeffrey Kurland

Ffion Whitehead in Dunkirk

Amongst staggering aural and visual assault, perhaps one of the quietest aspects of Dunkirk (2017, directed by Christopher Nolan) are its costumes – and this is to its credit. Dunkirk is the type of film that requires you to engage quickly with everything you see on screen. Jeffrey Kurland’s costume design is masterful in this regard. A sea of subtly differentiated green and brown with the pop of naval uniforms and briefly glimpsed civilian wear. This is 1940 at its most spare and rudimentary.

Here, Jeffrey Kurland chats exclusively to Clothes on Film about his process for creating the world of Dunkirk:

Clothes on Film: How did you go about researching the many uniforms seen in the film?

Jeffrey Kurland: As I normally would do. In the beginning it’s kind of a one man job. I trawl the internet, I go to libraries – I actually have my own library I use. I bought old magazines and coverage from Dunkirk. Everything I could. In fact my house was starting to smell like wet newspaper with all these old pieces from 1940. Then I got started with my team. We were looking at fabrics and old uniforms – actual uniforms I had seen. They were destroyed so couldn’t be used, but I could feel the texture. It is very difficult to recreate what you have just seen in a photo. By holding something in my hand I could feel the weight and examine the construction. There were so many elements to these uniforms, like the gas cape the soldiers carried with them at all times. The fabric for the uniforms I had made because you just can’t find it like that anymore. There is a specific tonality and texture that needs to be recreated perfectly.

CoF: Of course, the uniforms couldn’t look too new either?

JK: We did so many tests on the fabric and then filming with the camera, in sunlight, under artificial light, to see colour wise how we were going to create that distinct tone you eventually see on screen. It’s a gentle mix of brown and green. The uniforms have a slight glow to them. I wanted them to stand out that way.

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