To Bring Authenticity To 'Pillion,' The Costume Designer Embedded Herself In The Gay Biker Community
Fashion
Fashion
Costume designer Grace Snell approached the wardrobes of Colin and Ray in the BDSM biker romance "Pillion" with respect for the history of queer motorcycle culture.
In "Pillion," Harry Lighton's groundbreaking debut feature, Colin (Harry Melling) is immediately captivated by the enigmatic, brooding Ray (Alexander Skarsgård). After their first hookup in an alleyway, the soft-spoken traffic warden nervously awaits the arrival of the leader of a gay BDSM biker gang—as do his parents, who are more than a little confused by their arrangement. When Ray rocks up to their suburban home on a gleaming motorcycle and clad in a distinctive white and blue all-leather outfit, all three are left almost speechless.
While it's not the audience's first introduction to Ray, costume designer Grace Snell wanted the moment to be impactful. “Ray’s like a white knight in shining leather,” she says. “I wanted to heighten him a little bit because that leans into seeing Ray through Colin's eyes.” As Colin speeds headlong into Ray’s thrilling subculture, he discovers that every leather uniform is as specific to its wearer as it is to his coming-of-age journey.
The source material for the film, Adam Mars-Jones's 2020 novel "Box Hill," is set in the 1970s, which immediately evokes the sexy, sleek black leather Perfecto motorcycle jacket, most associated with Marlon Brando in the 1953 classic, “The Wild One” (see also: Jeff Nichols’ 2024 '60s-set, “The Bikeriders,” costume designed by Erin Benach). In bringing the alluring leather aesthetic into today’s world, Snell still needed to understand the history of queer motorcycle culture. So she dove into the work of artist Tom of Finland (Touko Laaksonen), who, in the 1970s, challenged societal boundaries with his stylized, erotic illustrations of musclebound men often clad head-to-toe in black leather—from caps to boots. “It became such a significant marker in the gay community,” says Snell. “It was extremely important, culturally, that we got this right, because it's such a big deal.”
She then threaded the evolution of fetishism within the gay biker community with the functionality and performance enhancements of contemporary advanced motorcycle gear—aerodynamic streamlining, ergonomic padding, and armor beneath the leather. “They're all practical jackets, and they just so happen to look quite sexy,” Snell explains, adding that the fetishization and projection of sexual identity is almost secondary to the practicality.
To study the variety of aesthetics within the various biking communities, Snell even embedded herself in what the community calls “rideouts” all over England and spoke to real members of the Gay Bikers' Motorcycle Club (GBMC), who played extras in the film. As she explains, on a sunny day, “hundreds of bikers” will hit the road to “tour” and just catch up with each other. “People who love to just go out on a jaunt and have a soft drink at the pub and have a chat about the latest models of bikes and what they've done,” says Snell.
During her immersion, Snell gleaned the popular brands that bikers prefer, like Dianese, to populate the new found-family that Colin will join. She also discovered a spectrum of leather outfit styles, tailored to riders’ preferences—whether for a leisurely sojourn on a Harley cruiser or for zipping around on a high-performance bike. “A lot of bikers coordinate with their bikes, so their motorbikes are a big deal,” says Snell. “I needed Harry and the production designer to sign off on what bike Ray would be on before I confirmed the final design.” (Reddit theorizes, opens in new tab that Ray rides a BMW S1000RR.)
“Ray’s like a white knight in shining leather." Photo: Grace Snell
Because of Skarsgård's 6’4” frame, Snell had the UK-based brand Hideout Leather custom-build his and his stunt double’s moto-ensembles.“His cream outfit took a third of my budget,” she exclaims, while admitting that Ray’s white look is “a bit of an anomaly” amongst the all-black outfits that prevail in both the movie and real-life biker communities.
For his exhilarating night out with Ray, Colin tries to dress the part in a beat-up dark leather jacket with decorative shoulder armor. “Colin’s dad has loaned the jacket to him,” says Snell, about the vintage jacket from her own archive. The backstory, as she imagined it, is that “his mum had fancied his dad when he'd worn it, and he had a motorbike back in his day.” The borrowed jacket is also purposefully dark brown, instead of the classic, rebel-signaling black. “Brown is just a little bit off,” says Snell, also sending a metaphorical message. “Colin actually had never picked leathers himself.”
Once he enters into his sub/dom relationship with Ray, Colin's wardrobe changes significantly. As we see in the movie, Ray gifts him a racing suit, a glossy black Arlen Ness ensemble. “Ray has measured him and designed leathers for him,” says Snell. The look was chosen with one criteria in mind: “What would Ray find hot?” As Snell explains, Colin is Ray's "shiny new toy" and so gets a "state of the art" outfit. “There's this sign that Colin's not really taken charge of who he is and what his needs are, while he's coming to terms with his identity.” With the high neck, sleek silhouette, and performance-racing paneling, Colin and Ray end up resembling yin and yang forces in quite a literal way. “Exactly,” says Snell. “Dark and light versions."
