Swarovski collaborated with BAFTA-nominated costume designer Julian Day to bring a shine to Rocketman, the new musical fantasy film from Paramount Pictures based on the life of Sir Elton John.

Day designed the costumes, including 64 different looks for the character of Elton and one million crystals embellish the costumes and accessories, bringing to life the extraordinary showmanship of the legendary singer.

Directed by Dexter Fletcher, Rocketman traces Elton John’s extraordinary breakthrough years, from student prodigy to pop-rock sensation. Taron Egerton as Elton performs his greatest hits and wears ever-more fabulous costumes in this fantastical retelling of the true highs and lows of stardom. The film also stars Bryce Dallas Howard, Jamie Bell and Richard Madden.

Among the elaborate costumes that form part of Elton’s flamboyant wardrobe is the Dodgers costume — a fully-crystallised baseball kit that is a stunning reimagining of the iconic costume worn by Elton to perform at his legendary Dodger Stadium concerts in Los Angeles in 1975. The shimmering design worn in the film by Egerton was created using 140,000 Swarovski crystals to be even more dazzling than the original.

How designer Julian Day used Swarovski crystals to showcase the showmanship and transformation of legendary singer Sir Elton John as the costume designer for the biopic Rocketman

The dramatic Devil costume was also designed for a moment when Elton feels unloved, so Day surrounds him with love in the form of a fiery-red jumpsuit with heart-shaped wings. The costume blazes with bespoke crystal flames, a headdress and sunglasses all glowing with over 60,000 hand-embellished crystals.

The Yellow Brick Road costume brings to life Elton’s much-loved album, with design details to represent characters from The Wizard of Oz. The blue suit with crystal red lapels and the iconic ruby crystal slippers symbolise Dorothy, and the fur coat, silver shirt and straw hat characterise each of her companions: the Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow.

The extravagant Elizabeth costume is worn during a wild stage performance. Bursting with crystal and Swarovski Crystal Pearl embellishment it plays on Elton’s penchant for theatrics as well as his reputation as rock royalty. The show-stopping star headdress was inspired by Hedy Lamarr’s Swarovski original in the 1941 film Zeigfeld Girls.

Day also worked closely with Swarovski’s design team to create more than 750 bespoke crystal transfers to accent his outfits, including 91 personalised Elton John patches. Day designed a red jumpsuit with an Elton John patch emblazoned across the back for Elton’s 1970 performance at the Troubadour in Los Angeles — a pivotal moment when he transforms into the Elton John we know and love.

For the final flourish, Day adorned numerous glasses — a signature Elton John accessory — with crystals; as well as shoes, accessories and jewellery for added rock-star glam. Swarovski has previously partnered with Day on costumes for Oscar-nominated Bohemian Rhapsody (2018).

“I’ve used Swarovski crystals on numerous films and they are very much part of the idea of showmanship. What they do is elevate and exaggerate an outfit. Wherever we could find a place for a crystal in this film, we put it there. Swarovski and Rocketman is a perfect partnership,” said Day.

Swarovski’s history on the silver screen goes back to the early days of Hollywood over 85 years ago, when its crystals made their Hollywood debut in the Marlene Dietrich film Blonde Venus.

It is a history sparkling with iconic moments, from Marilyn Monroe singing Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend wearing dazzling Swarovski jewels in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes to Audrey Hepburn accessorising her Little Black Dress with a chic Swarovski tiara in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

— By arrangement with The Nation Thailand

Published in Dawn, ICON, June 23rd, 2019