Formal wear origins

SCABAL ON STAGE
DRAMATIC DRESSING
Scabal, globally renowned for its fine fabrics, has also developed a strong
reputation with the wardrobe designers of Europe’s leading theatres.
Many an actor has
trod the boards
declaring: “For
the apparel oft
proclaims the
man”. And this
tenet, passed on
by Shakespeare’s Polonius in the play
Hamlet, has been taken truly to heart
by the wardrobe managers of theatres
across the globe.
For stage costumes, it is imperative that
they reflect the character. A royal aide,
for example, must surely dress the part
if he is to command a stage presence.
Wardrobe designers also need good
Teatro La Fenice in Venice
quality materials which can withstand
the wear and tear of night after night
of punishment. With its wide range of
fine fabrics, Scabal not only dresses
some of the world’s leading actors off
stage but its wares are used by wardrobe
managers around the world when
they are looking for that extra special
something to make an outfit perform as
strongly as the actors themselves.
Scabal’s forays into theatres started
early on. Peter Thissen, chairman of the
company, says: “We discovered theatre a
long time ago… I was a theatre freak at the
time; I had studied theatre and I had a lot of
contacts.”
SPANNING THE AGES
Evidently, a brand like Scabal is a
destination of choice for any wardrobe
manager looking for classics such as
blazers, gentlemen’s suits and smoking
jackets. Actor Daniel Craig, for
example, wore a suit made with Scabal
fabric in his reprisal of James Bond in
Casino Royale.
“In the theatres, there are many modern
productions from the 1940s, 1950s and
1960s and in the Scabal collection, we can
always find cloths which are difficult to
find elsewhere,” says Carlos Tieppo from
famous Teatro La Fenice in Venice.
© Michele Crosera
But this only accounts for part of its
business. While not an obvious port
of call for period costume, Robert
Oakes, UK sales agent for Scabal,
says: “We have a lot of cloths for classic
suiting as well as some fantastic velvets
which can be used, for example, in an
Elizabethan production.”
He says Scabal fabrics have been used
by the television production industry
for period pieces and were also used to
make some of the costumes, including
wizard capes, for the Warner Brothers’
Harry Potter series of films.
Tieppo meanwhile reels off a list of
productions of different ages put on by
Teatro La Fenice where Scabal fabrics
have been used for the costumes,
including Verdi’s Rigoletto, Mozart’s
Don Giovanni, Gounod’s Romeo and
Juliet and Puccini’s La Rondine.
He describes the velours as “very fine
and light” and thus well-suited to,
for example, costumes for 18th
century productions. An added
advantage with these fabrics is that
the performers do not get too hot –
a concern for actors belting out their
lines under harsh stage lights.
FROM MILL TO STAGE
Scabal offers more than 5,000 fabrics,
mainly produced in Huddersfield,
United Kingdom, where Scabal’s mill
is located.
J. Peter Thissen explains how Scabal
works with theatres, making sure
that they get what they need in time:
“We have two main ways of doing
business: immediate deliveries where we
deliver the final design within 24 hours –
this is very important for theatres because
they are always under time pressure –
and special requests such as a the
remaking of smoking jackets. We do
whatever they need.”
Such business may be generated
by sales agents visiting wardrobe
departments of theatres to present the
latest collections. Much business is
also generated through Scabal retail
outlets such as its Savile Row address
in London.
Rudolf Verheyen represents Scabal
in Germany and supplies many of the
country’s theatres and opera houses
as well as notable figures from politics
like former chancellor Helmut Kohl,
says: “Fabrics are with the customer
the very next day, ready for cutting and
further processing.”
Once with the customer, these fabrics
will then be put through their paces.
“This may entail something like dyeing
or printing, embroidery or embellishment
and of course the fabric might well have to
withstand the rigours of being broken down,”
says Morag Feeney-Beaton, Stockroom
Supervisor in the Production Costume
unit of the Royal Opera House.
In many productions, the garments
could be splattered with fake blood
or ripped on stage as part of the
production. Oakes comments: “It amuses
me that they buy these really beautiful cloths
and then distress them.”
CUTTING THEIR CLOTH
Selling to clients in theatre companies
is not without its complications.
As with many industries in these
post-financial crisis days, there are
conscious efforts to cut costs. Added
Les Troyens – Die Trojaner: Actors wearing Scabal fabrics
to that, government funding for arts
and culture is one of the first areas to
suffer when a recession starts to bite.
“With the arts industry on a knife edge at
the moment in the UK with budget cuts,
it’s a tough time for theatres. They all get
grants but these are being slashed by the
government,” explains Oakes. Over in
Germany, it’s much the same picture.
“Financial resources in recent years have
been very limited,” says Verheyen.
A trend therefore is for theatre
companies to focus more on
contemporary productions rather
than potentially more costly historical
dramas where the costumes can be
something more of a feat, a costly one
at that, for wardrobe managers. “If
they don’t have to make it, they buy it. But
it can be difficult with a period piece and
in these cases, they often have to make it,”
says Oakes.
But it’s not all doom and gloom.
“Clients are quite price-conscious as
well but having said that, if a cloth is
expensive and they really need it, they’ll
buy it. If it has to have the look, it has to
have the look,” adds Oakes.
One way to keep the cost down is to save
the high quality fabrics for the stars
of the show. “Most of all, we use Scabal
cloth to make costumes for soloists. Scabal’s
fabrics have a certain price and we cannot
give them to all cast figures. Such chic
material is for the soloists,” says Tieppo.
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© A.T. Schaefer