From the medieval robes in “House of the Dragon” to royal robes in “The Crown,” the costumes for these series come from Spain. In the small town of Alegete on the outskirts of Madrid, the Peris Costumes company has built up a huge stock and uses it to outfit film productions all over the world.
“You’ll find everything here,” says manager Javier Toledo, pointing to long rows of clothing and accessories – from armor to frock coats and sailor suits to monk’s habit. All around him are mannequins in 18th-century dresses in front of posters of the many films the company has worked on over the years. “It’s getting more and more,” says the 63-year-old happily.
Toledo has been at the helm of the Group since 2012 and has grown the family business, which has been tailoring theater costumes since 1856, into one of the world’s leading suppliers of costume rentals for the film industry. A success story that is closely linked to the rise of streaming services such as Netflix, Disney or HBO. “We have reacted to the changes in the market,” says Toledo, referring to the series boom.
When he took over the company, Peris Costumes had only a dozen employees. The company has now grown to 250 employees and has offices and workshops in 15 capital cities, including Berlin, Budapest, Paris and Mexico City. “In the first half of the year we were involved in almost 600 productions. And we hope that it will be more than 1000 by the end of the year,” says marketing director Myriam Wais.
The films and series that the company has furnished include many large projects with sophisticated costumes from bygone eras or the fantasy world, such as “The Rings of Power” or “Marco Polo”. Many producers rent the costumes instead of having them custom made.
“Today, starting from scratch for the wardrobe has become almost impossible because of the cost and time involved,” says Toledo. Additionally, the filmmakers appreciated “getting costumes that have already been worn and aged over time”.
To expand its fundus, Peris Costumes has bought millions of dresses, hats, shoes and uniforms from major studios such as Warner Bros over the past few years. “In total, we have more than ten million items of clothing and accessories,” says Wais proudly. “It’s the biggest closet in the world.”
In an adjoining room, four seamstresses work on pieces of leather with hammers and tongs. The jewelry workshop stocks nearly 20,000 pieces, including the jewels worn by Elizabeth Taylor in 1963’s ‘Cleopatra’ and the papal cross that was emblazoned on Jude Law’s chest in the 2016 series ‘The Young Pope’. “Never throw anything away, even if it was damaged during filming, it may be needed again someday,” is an important rule at Peris Costumes.
To make even better use of the huge wardrobe, the company recently started digitizing some of the pieces in a studio equipped with 144 high-resolution cameras. This service allows production companies to use 3D images of costumes in post-production, Wais says. This virtual wardrobe is particularly popular with video game manufacturers.
