In ‘Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man,’ Father and Son Face Off & So Do Their Wardrobes

When audiences return to Small Heath in “Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man,” the full-length feature film follow-up to the hit period drama, there’s a new Rom Baro (“big man” in Romani) in town: Duke Shelby (Barry Keoghan). Four years have passed since Steven Knight’s television series ended, but the illegitimate son of former gang leader Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) is “running the Peaky Blinders like it’s 1919 all over again,” as his aunt Ada (Sophie Rundle) says. In other words, Duke has a massive chip on his shoulder and is even more ruthless—if not reckless—than his legendary father and is more than ready to step into his role as the next-generation gang leader reshaping world order.

Thanks to costume designer Alison McCosh, he’s got a new look to match: a gray double-breasted shawl-lapel wool suit, pink-toned shirt, and red-brown neckerchief secured with a gold pin. The Peaky Blinders requisite flat-cap remains, of course. McCosh, who has been a part of the franchise since season four, tells The Set Set she worked with Keoghan to capture Duke’s toughness while also hinting at his vulnerability. “We talked about bringing in a little bit more color,” says McCosh, nodding to Duke’s childhood on the road with his late mother and the Romani community. “He’s different from his father. You can imagine a child hurt by their parent developing a rebellious streak. His suits were cut slightly differently from Tommy’s.”

Like the franchise’s famous anachronistic, bluesy alt-rock soundtrack, Duke’s suits look forward to a post–World War II 1950s England, with more tapered, high-waisted trousers and contoured jackets, while also referencing Romani dress. “A little more punk rock, as [Keoghan] would say,” notes McCosh, who also incorporated vintage jewelry and gleaming adornments on Duke’s flat cap to honor his heritage. She custom-designed all of Duke’s jaunty suits, but found the perfect vintage 1940s brown leather jacket with a shearling lapel. The meticulously aged-and-dyed coat seamlessly blends into the grittiness of the city of Birmingham, now ravaged by German air raids. “That jacket was a journey,” says McCosh, who first experimented with custom builds. “But [Keoghan] felt that it brought something different to the character.”

Instead of keeping it in the family, like the street gang under his father, Duke has stacked his crew with young hotheads dressed in the uniform of the new era. The Peaky Blinders have always been terrifyingly stylish, of course, but there’s something sleeker, sharper, and more dangerous about their streamlined dark coats, three-piece suits, and rakish ties. “They were more rebellious and had more bravado. Duke wanted to show it,” says McCosh. “To be part of his gang, you had to have style and a little bit of swagger.”

Meanwhile, Tommy has retreated from the world to live in isolation at Arrow House—now crumbling since he blew it up in the series finale. He wanders the unkempt family graveyard and sits in quiet introspection in his empty mansion dressed in a stark, utilitarian all-black knits, rugged trousers, and a hooded parka. “He's in such a different place emotionally, so it was all a new silhouette,” says McCosh. She inversely elevated Tommy’s aesthetic in season four when he pursued a more respectable public life and fought fascism as an MP. Well, mostly. “I think the only thing that we carried over was his bullets.”

Even though he’s no longer presiding over strategy meetings at the Garrison pub, Tommy still needed to exude authority and control. So McCosh looked to Old Hollywood leading men for the “striking silhouette” delineated by the turtleneck knit, while incorporating Tommy’s established taste for quiet luxury from the series. “The cardigan was all handknitted with cashmere at the back,” says McCosh. 

But circumstances and duty pull him back to the gang—and to Duke—so Tommy revisits the antihero uniform of his Peaky Blinders days. Resigned and determined all at once, he dons an impeccable three-piece suit complete with gold cufflinks, a tie bar, and gleaming pocketwatch and chain. As audience see Tommy dramatically complete the look with an overcoat, the striking red lining forbiddingly billows around him in slow motion. For this pivotal moment, McCosh updated his trademark longline cashmere coat in a commanding midnight blue and with stronger shoulders, extended skirting, and a longer vent at the back. “So you get that powerful movement when it swings around, and a glimpse of the red lining that people go nuts for,” says McCosh. “We really thought about it because Cillian wanted to make a film moment for the fans.”

Father and son face off, wearing their differences: Tommy in his imposing monochrome dark blue coat, and Duke in opposition to him in back in a gray-and-navy pinstripe suit, accented with a wine-red neckerchief that signals his Romani roots. It’s a striking moment made all the more memorable by McCosh’s costuming. “This young punk kid going against his father, all sleek and defined,” says McCosh, about the ensuing mud-drenched showdown. “I just had my head down. I couldn't watch.”

Without spoiling things, by the end of the movie, there is significantly less opposition in the characters’ wardrobes. Duke’s look evolves into a plush gray wool-cashmere coat that mirrors the same strong-shouldered silhouette of Tommy’s. “He takes that emotional step forward, really deep down inside,” says McCosh. “He just wants the love of his father, and he wants that connection."