It was amazing how good they all were about having to share me,” costume designer Sarah Edwards tells Vogue of dividing her time between the eight leading ladies of 2018’s summer blockbuster, Oceans 8. “Most of these actresses are used to being the star of a movie, not having to share that spot with seven others, but they were really respectful of each other.”
The calibre of the cast – Hollywood heavyweights Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Anne Hathaway star alongside Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna and Helena Bonham Carter – also made Edwards’s job easier. “We got a lot of help from the fashion world,” she recalls of the costume department bulging with every major fashion brand. “There were a lot of people really interested in being a part of it.”
It was when Cartier came calling, however, that she realised the extent of the cast's influence. The storied jeweller invited Edwards and Hathaway into its archive to select rare stones to complement her costumes as Daphne Kluger. “We sat in this incredible room and Cartier brought us trays and trays of jewellery,” she remembers. “We went through every single one and matched the jewellery to all of Anne’s outfit changes – it was incredible.” The luxury French house also created the magnificent Jeanne Toussaint necklace that is the focus of film’s Met Gala heist.
Ah, the heist. The master plan of Danny Ocean’s sister, Debbie (Sandra Bullock), and her team of money-hungry mates. Edwards’s team (15 styling assistants on normal days, near 50 for the gala shoot) dressed 300 extras in couture and designer dresses that PR agency KCD helped her source. “We couldn’t go to Macy’s and buy these dresses, it would never have looked real! We had to have access to authentic designer gowns.” Debbie Ocean’s crew wore archive Givenchy (Blanchett), Alberta Ferretti (Bullock), Zac Posen (Rihanna), Valentino (Hathaway), Dolce & Gabbana (Bonham Carter), Naeem Khan (Kaling), Prada (Paulson) and Jonathan Simkhai (Awkwafina), but several celebrity cameos weren’t confirmed until the shoot day. Other high-profile actors, who Edwards will not name, turned up wearing red-carpet wear from their personal collections. The more the merrier, or rather, the more fabulous the better, was the mood.
