Meet Loulou Bontemps, The Costume Designer Guy Ritchie Keeps On Call

Five projects in, Loulou Bontemps has become essential to the visual language of a Guy Ritchie picture. The costume designer knows that in the slick, style-driven world of a Ritchie production, clothing carries meaning. “We can get absolutely lost in conversation for hours about how and why people dress the way they do,” she tells The Set Set. “He’s not really interested in fashion. Style is more his language.”

Few people understand that language better than Bontemps. Alongside cinematographer Ed Wild and production designer Martyn John, a “work family” has emerged, one that has bounced from film to film—and country to country. Their latest collaboration, “In the Grey,” took Bontemps to Tenerife on the Canary Islands for the first time. The film follows a covert team of operatives navigating a billion-dollar heist that spirals into all-out warfare. But for Bontemps, the film’s costumes began not with explosions or action set pieces, but with the sun-faded palettes and the natural light of the island. “I knew I wanted to bring an ‘80s and '90s-inspired visual look to the wardrobes,” Bontemps says. “With Ed capturing the natural light and Martin’s production design, it all just worked beautifully together.”

That atmosphere shaped the film’s three central trio of characters: Sid, Bronco, and Rachel. For Sid (played by Henry Cavill), Bontemps leaned into what she calls a “contemporary gentleman’s wardrobe inspired by the ‘40s. Think high-waisted trousers, tucked shirts, and elegant tailoring that amplifies Cavill’s already timeless look. “We know Henry is loved for being the British gentleman anyway,” she says. “So we were playing with what audiences already love about Henry Cavill himself.”

Bronco (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) exists in deliberate contrast to Sid. “He throws things on,” Bontemps says. “He’s not trying too hard. He definitely doesn't wear a tie with his suits.” His wardrobe is made up of relaxed tailoring, loosened collars, and unbuttoned shirts layered on top of vests, which makes his style feel lived-in and almost rebellious. “I think a gentleman versus an American gentleman is the best way to put it,” she says with a laugh. Bontemps was interested in pushing the envelope as far as she could, and at one point even suggested putting Gyllenhaal in full cowboy attire—boots, belt, hat, and all—before the idea was “poo-pooed very early on.”

Then there’s Rachel (played by Eiza González), whose wardrobe carries the most meaning. If Sid and Bronco embody opposing masculine silhouettes, Rachel moves fluidly between power and vulnerability in her outfits. Bontemps cites ‘90s-era Monica Bellucci as a major inspiration for the wardrobe. “She stole the attention of everybody in a room just by walking and wearing what she was wearing,” she says of Bellucci. Bontempts wanted to bring that energy to Rachel and fought hard to make sure the character never faded into the background. Case in point, when Bontemps learned that John would be color-drenching a set very early on in the film in a saturated navy blue shade, she knew that she needed to up the ante with González’s costume. “I said to Guy, ‘I really think she needs to be in red, this is a big moment,’” she recalls. The costume she had originally planned for González was swapped out for a striking red suit, layered over a champagne silk blouse, and matching red Birkin. “She's instantly and immediately asserting power and strength and confidence and everything all of us women wish we were in big, important, powerful moments.”

Importantly, for Bontemps, making Rachel look powerful didn’t necessitate diminishing the men around her. “We don’t need to dress down men in order to make women look more powerful,” she explains. “It’s the fit or the style of what that woman is wearing that can take away the tension from everybody in a room just by walking in.” But Rachel’s wardrobe also softens at times. Relaxed crochet sets, flowing dresses, and slouchier silhouettes appear when she reconnects with Sid and Bronco away from the operation itself, revealing a more vulnerable side to the character. “That is her relaxing,” Bontemps explains. “Every time she puts on a suit or one of her power dresses, it’s intentional.”

That attention to emotional detail defines Bontemps’ work. “It’s not just what they’re wearing,” she says. “It’s how they’re wearing it.” It’s hardly surprising given Bontemps’ upbringing. Born to a Sicilian-French mother who owned a fabric shop and made her clothes by hand, she says that “a huge amount of my sense of style comes from my mom. The Mediterranean influence, the French style, antiques fairs—all of that shaped me.” Even now, she loves pre-loved clothing, vintage tailoring, and pieces that already carry a sense of history. Many of the luxury accessories seen in “In the Grey” (including the red Birkin that was also worn by Kaya Scodelario in “The Gentlemen”) were loaned from private collectors.

When we speak at her studio just outside of London, Bontemps is fresh off yet another Ritchie production, this time shot in Malta, where the director was so taken with her styling that he “literally stole the jacket off Jason Isaacs’ back when we wrapped that day and just took it home.” The line between Ritchie’s personal style and the worlds he creates has increasingly blurred—partly because Bontemps now styles him off-screen too as part of her styling business, Maison Bontemps, opens in new tab. Asked which of Ritchie’s characters most resembles the filmmaker's wardrobe, she doesn’t hesitate: Eddie from “The Gentlemen”. Why? “Guy Ritchie is essentially this British gentleman,” she says. “A bit of a gentleman gangster.”

Every wrap on a Guy Ritchie production comes with elaborate gifts from the man himself in the form of beautifully engineered portable furniture pieces from Cashmere Caveman Co., the outdoor living essentials business Ritchie founded.“Guy Ritchie is an engineer at heart,” Bontemps says, proudly demonstrating one of the collapsible chairs she received after a recent production, which comes complete with a shoe horn and a custom bag to store her script. “He’s created this wonderful world for all of us to immerse ourselves in,” says Bontemps. That world isn’t slowing down anytime soon. With “The Gentlemen” season two already completed and more Ritchie projects on the horizon, Bontemps remains deeply embedded in the filmmaker’s visual universe.