An Interview With ‘We Are Lady Parts’ Costume Designer PC Williams

What’s better than being in a punk band? Perhaps creating the costumes for a punk band. That’s what costume designer PC Williams has been doing on We Are Lady Parts. For more on what it was like working on season two, check out this interview with Williams below:

Rachel Bellwoar: Besides Lady Parts, you also recently designed the costumes for the Amy Winehouse biopic, Back to Black. What are some of the unique challenges of designing costumes for the music scene?

PC Williams: I think when designing costumes for a music-centered piece of work, the authenticity of the music has to come through through the costumes. You want folks who are part of that scene to feel seen and those who aren’t, to be in interested to look. Typically with design, the script informs the designs, however with music, theres the added layer of the music itself informing the design. There’s something extra to play with that I really enjoy.

Bellwoar: Having worked on Lady Parts from the beginning, have any of the character’s wardrobes changed a lot since the original short film?

Williams: I don’t know if I would say that they have changed but they have definitely evolved. Part of that evolution is from the character themselves the journey they’ve been on since the beginning and the journey they’re embarking on in season 2. Another part of it comes from my evolution as a designer and the risks I’m willing to take now, that I may have not been able to take back at the start. I think the design of this seasons costumes was definitely more collaborative with the actors and therefore there’s a natural evolution that happens when you get to collaborate on something with someone else.

Bellwoar: There’s a bit of a reoccurring Western theme this season. Was that fun to incorporate?

Williams: OMG the western theme was soooooo fun to respond to!! Genuinely, I think the “Malala Made Me Do It” costumes are my favourite thing I’ve ever designed. To be able to take a theme like “Western” and translate it into a leather & diamante cowgirl, an African ankara print cowgirl, lean into the beautifully adorned excess of the mariachi bands, the denim of Americana country, the textiles of the indigenous community and combine Dolly Parton’s aesthetic with that of a Mughal Queen, is literally a design dream!

Bellwoar: This season there’s also another punk band on the scene in Second Wife. How did you set out to make their style different from Lady Parts’?

Williams: I loved that we had a new band. It gave me and my team an opportunity to explore a lot of the things that we were a) a bit unaware of in season 1 when it came to modest dressing b) a little to timid to explore because we were so focused on being culturally appropriate. But what we found with the research this season is that Muslim girls present in so many different ways! There is such a variety of Muslim influencer online and so we were able to look to them for inspiration and bring that to your screens. A real insight into the plethora of Muslim women living in their truth. Whereas Lady Parts’ aesthetic is rooted in their individual cultural identities, Second Wife’s look is much more of a collective form of expression.

Bellwoar: One of the gigs Lady Parts agree to do to raise money so they can record their album is a fashion shoot. Was it strange having to put clothing racks together for each character that weren’t in line with their personal aesthetics?

Williams: The photoshoot was one of the funniest days on set… I laughed so much I had to leave early. Putting the racks together was really fun though. The brief was make it feel like the girls but everything had to be neutral and with a little less personality. We did mood boards and everything for those racks of clothes. It had to ring true, like you could imagine someone pulling those clothes together and thinking it felt right for Ayesha [Juliette Motamed] or Saira [Sarah Kameela Impey].

Bellwoar: Around the same time as this gig, Bisma (Faith Omole) starts to question her own personal style. What was it like to tell that storyline through Bisma’s outfits?

Williams: When I first read the script I had to ask Nida [Manzoor] if there was something she wanted to tell me about Bisma’s costumes. I was like is this about me? hahaha. But you know what, as a 2nd generation Nigerian & Guyanese migrant myself, Bisma’s character is very dear to me. As a woman, we all go through phases when we question ourselves, what we’re wearing, what it says about us etc etc etc. It was nice to use Bisma’s costumes to have that conversation and to land in a space that basically said it’s not about how you perceive what I wear but how what I wear makes me feel. I am glad we could explore those themes with her.

Bellwoar: When designing the niqabs for Momtaz (Lucie Shorthouse), how did you decide which fabrics to use?

Williams:  I really wanted Momtaz to have fashion moments this season. I think in season 1, I was learning so much, so quickly, about Islamic dress and it’s meaning, that I didn’t feel like I had the agency to try new things. But researching the new band Second Wife and discovering all these different Muslim women, some also niqāb wearing, I realised that there was soooo much more we could do with her costume, without making it feel inauthentic or performative. Myself and Lucie spoke a lot about where we could take the characters wardrobe and my lovely workroom gem Jamie Currier knocked out some incredible pieces for her.

Bellwoar: From action (Polite Society) to horror (The Baby), your credits cover a wide plethora of genres. Besides hopefully getting to work on more Lady Parts, is there any other genre you’d love to try?

Williams: I’d love to try my hand at a total world build… designing for a space, time and place that does not exist. I’d also love to do a superhero movie. Let’s see what the universe has planned for me.

Bellwoar: Thanks for agreeing to this interview, PC!

Season 2 of We Are Lady Parts is streaming on Peacock.