Mothers’ Instinct Interview With Mitchell Travers
Mothers’ Instinct is a gripping well-detailed thrilling drama that will have you gripped. Released in the UK yesterday on Wednesday 27th March 2024, the Benoît Delhomme remake of French film Duelles (2018) an adaptation of Barbara Abdel’s novel, Derriere La Haine (2012) is brilliant. It is perhaps spring 2024 most noteworthy drama.
It is captivating starring Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain as Celine and Alice respectively as best friends and neighbours set in a 1960s world. Their suburban existence is shattered when Celine’s son falls to his death. Paranoia, guilt and grief underpin the thriller.
It is not only the psychological games and twists that will keep you glued to the screen but also the wonderful sixties costume by the brilliant Mitchell Travers (In The Heights, Hustlers, The Eyes Of Tammy Faye) will have you transfixed. Travers’s costume will have you wanting to dress like a sixties girl by the time the film is done. It really gives us an authentic idea of who each character is and goes a long way towards the visual brilliance of this masterpiece.
We had to speak to Travers’s about his beautiful costume for Mothers Instinct as we know you will want to know as much about it as we do. It was honour that he accepted our interview request.
1. Mr Travers, It is an honour to speak to you about your work on ‘Mothers’ Instincts’.You have told lots of stories through clothes. What were you trying to do with this film?
I was endlessly fascinated by these two characters. I loved the challenge of designing for two women from seemingly similar backgrounds, but who express themselves very differently in their wardrobes. Celine is quite classic and restrained, whereas Alice is a bit more of a risk taker. I was very inspired by the differences in their parenting styles,and felt that those instincts would correspond to their personal style. We felt that Celine’s household would be more structured and warm whereas Alice’s household would be a bit more independent and impulsive. My goal was that these philosophies would translate into how the families dressed themselves. Anne and I had conversations about how Celine
might be laying out her husband’s outfits for him each day, where Alice wouldn’t concern herself as much with that level of presentation.
2. What is your relationship to this film; the Olivier Masset-Depasse’s 2018 film and the 2012 novel by Barbara Abel?
Once I was brought on board to Costume Design this film, I watched the 2018 film and read the novel as a part of my research.
3. What are some of the unique challenges of designing for a film set in the Sixties?
A unique challenge to designing a film set in the 60's is that we are working with vintage clothing that is about 65 years old! So much of the daywear of the period was constructed out of beautiful fine
cottons and linens that don’t hold up over time! We had to construct replicas for certain sequences to ensure that they could meet the rigorous demands of filming. There is such a wealth of research for this period that you can get lost in the more commercial trends of the time, but I thought it was important that these mothers feel human. Working with Anne and Jessica is a costume designer’s dream, so I worked hard to make sure that the clothing still felt authentic to the story of these two small town
neighbors.
4. What was your process for creating and sourcing for this?
I prefer to work with genuine vintage clothing whenever possible so I canvased my network of vintage clothing collectors in my pursuit of the perfect look for each character. I sat with each woman to understand what they wanted from their characters and funnelled those conversations into closets I presented to each woman.
5. How did you and director Benoît Delhomme work together telling the stories of Alice and Céline through costume?
It was such a pleasure to work with Benoit Delhomme on this project. He has a masterful ability to find beauty with a camera! I felt that he captured this early 60s femininity with such grace and then conversely captured the depths of grief with vulnerable honesty.
We are blown away by Travers’s answers and process. His ability to show beauty onscreen is breathtaking.
If you love fashion like we do, Mothers’ Instinct will become a reference point for you for great fashion and endless inspiration.
Travers’s use of colour, silhouette, accessory and references shines. In combination with the well-thought-out sixties set it really brings Delhomme’s story to life.
Mothers’ Instinct is in cinemas in the UK now.
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