Emma D’Arcy can distinguish between a ‘fashion’ and an ‘art’ person with just a single glance – a side effect of having spent three years studying fine art at Oxford, during which time, the actor’s once-rebellious teenage wardrobe softened into a uniform of worn-in neutrals. “Fashion dresses for shape and silhouette, while art seeks out clothing based on its objecthood,” the 32-year-old says, sitting cross-legged on a plush, crescent sofa at the W Hollywood. “I relate to that insofar as I’ve always found it easier to build relationships with second-hand clothing. I’m often looking for weight or texture or visible histories on the fabric’s surface.” In the short window we have to speak before this evening’s Golden Globes – where D’Arcy is nominated for Best Actress for portraying the brooding Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon – the depth of character they expect from clothes soon becomes obvious.
Read more: Golden Globes 2025 Red Carpet
“That’s how their brain works,” says stylist Rose Forde. “It’s so exciting when you can exchange ideas beyond: ‘What is a good brand?’ and ‘Do you think this looks nice?’ Because Emma is so intelligent and has great taste, our looks are able to have a little more meat on their bones. I can say, ‘Hey, do you wanna hold this scarf because it has the qualities of a gothic altar piece?’ Most people wouldn’t.” Forde is referring to the ivory silk foulard Alexander McQueen designed as a prop to D’Arcy’s red-carpet tuxedo, which has been adapted from the crisp, elegiac tailoring Seán McGirr presented for spring/summer 2025 with jacked-up shoulders and elaborate, cursive collars. “Seán really ‘arrived’ with that collection, and it resonated with the soft, regal mood we’ve been wanting to put out. There was a real toughness to the looks we created for the House of the Dragon press run – the grills, the shades – but we’re entering into more of a dream-like space this time around.”
“We tend to skirt the aesthetic requirements of an event, focusing instead on feelings, textures, characters,” adds D’Arcy, who relies on Forde to make tangible these more abstract moods. “Rose hears whatever it is I’m trying to communicate.” One “sensational” reference for this evening’s look was found in Neil Jordan’s 1994 film, Interview With The Vampire, in which a clean-cut, 30-year-old Brad Pitt plays an 18th-century plantation owner brought into the ranks of the undead. Blond wigs, ruffles and fangs. “That hazy romanticism. It’s one of the most exquisite examples of fashion in cinema,” Forde says. “But I didn’t want to be literal with it, because there’s such a fine line between style and costume.” The same goes for the method-dressing phenomenon: “Nope. Definitely not. It needed to feel ceremonial. Punk. Like, ‘Would Derek Jarman agree to this reinterpretation of romanticism?’ That feels very ‘Emma’ to me. I can see them travelling back to the Blitz club in this.”
D’Arcy plays the swaggering New Romantic well – the emphatic make-up, the Anglepoise limbs, the drama of that Victoriana collar and natural debonair charm – a role that, as a non-binary person, becomes an open conduit for transness. “I was chasing the eccentric, the ceremonial,” the actor says. “But that’s a challenging concept, because I can count on one hand the number of ‘ceremonies’ I’ve been to. For some reason, my only point of reference seems to be a flamboyant child prodigy outfit.” D’Arcy said the same thing about their 2023 Golden Globes look, describing the event as “the prom of a school you didn’t go to”. “That’s funny, maybe I’ll use that one again, too,” they add. “I just think there’s a lot of pomp to the Globes that other people seem to be able to wear much more comfortably than me. I won’t know anyone there! I guess the lesson here is that I need to become a better actor so that it feels like ‘my’ prom.”
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