The Traitors has become must-see TV for many reasons, but perhaps one of the largest remains Alan Cumming’s extravagant and wickedly outlandish looks.
Cumming’s many looks are the result of a partnership between the host and celebrity stylist Sam Spector. “It’s really an amazing collaboration. We all sort of give our own expertise or put our own expertise into it,” Spector says of his work with Cumming and The Traitors’ production and Peacock.
“The network with what they think the viewers want to see, the producers with what they envisioned based on the missions and challenges and the cast and then me and Alan with our creative input,” he adds.
The stylist says the process of selecting looks lasts a couple of months. “It’s a process where I wait to hear from the producers and the network [about] the challenges, and then I do a lot of research and inspiration digging. That takes a couple of weeks, and then I have to present to Alan and see his feeling,” he says.
“We do a lot of customization, as you’ve seen, so that takes time,” Spector adds. “Then we ship it off to Scotland.”
Spector says his working relationship with Cumming makes the styling process easier. “I see something on the runway, I screenshot it, text it to him and say, ‘This would be perfect for next season,’ and he’s usually on board. We seem to be on the same page when it comes to that.”
During season three of the award-winning competition series, Spector came up with even more elaborate ensembles. “The producers are always like, ‘We gave you this mission, but we never envisioned something as wacky and crazy as a baby doll head as a pocket square.’”
Spector says he finds it hard to pick a favorite outfit from the season. “I loved the chess episode. I loved the baby doll [episode]. I love so many of them. Each one of them becomes a baby to me because we put so much effort and thought into each one of them. There’s so much detail that goes into it that each one of them becomes so special to [me],” he says.
“It’s funny because I expect a reaction to each of them and the reaction that the fans have are completely different than what I would expect,” Spector says.
Cumming has been very vocal about the fact he’s playing a character on The Traitors, and previously told THR that he treats it like any other role. “Being on a film, you get dressed in the morning, get into your costume and makeup and hair. That is very important for me, to understand who the character is,” he said at the time.
“I think the wardrobe plays a huge part of his character. We work with his hairstylist to embellish the look, and I think it adds to his drama,” Spector says. “I think, also, Alan seeing the social media reaction, the comments and stuff are fueling his desire to be this amazing character and see how much reaction we are getting from it. I think he’s really excited by that.”
Spector also applauds Cumming’s fashion fearlessness. “He’s willing to explore and experiment with different looks,” he says. “Being able to play with gender and put Alan in a skirt on the bottom and a tuxedo on top is amazing for me as an artist.”
He adds: “I think Alan pulls it off so perfectly. I don’t think many guys can do that.”
