“Paul Smith Suit, Louboutin Trotters”: Danny Dyer On Prepping For The Rivals Red Carpet
The Danny Dyer of 2007 – the Danny Dyer who walked the red carpet at that year’s NME Awards in the supremely laddish combination of distressed denim, Adidas Superstars and unmistakable 5 o’clock shadow – would likely have had some choice words for anyone who suggested he might consider hiring a stylist back then. “I’m from east London,” he points out. “Jeans, a Ralph Lauren Polo shirt, Reebok Classics… that was my look.” His attitude at the time was: “Why would I pay someone else to put clobber on me?”
Almost 20 years on, Dyer is a grandfather, a mid-life sex symbol, and something of a totem of healthy masculinity – the latter two a result of his unexpectedly touching turn as self-made millionaire Freddie Jones in Disney+’s hit Jilly Cooper adaptation, Rivals. He is also perhaps more in demand than he has ever been, juggling projects as varied as The Dyers’ Caravan Park, the reality show he fronts with his daughter, Dani (“fucking obsessed with chalets all of a sudden,” he mutters), and The Siege, a “really powerful” Channel 4 drama based on the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege in London (“because I do like to remind people that I’m an actor”), to name just two.
All of which is to say, Dyer has reassessed his attitude to wardrobe, he tells me, speaking from the back of a car on the eve of the Rivals season 2 premiere. Given the pace of his current schedule, “even getting a pair of socks out the drawer in the morning is a real ball ache”. Now, he has stylist (and British GQ fashion editor) Angelo Mitakos on hand to help with socks, shoes and everything else besides – meaning there will be no trace of a scoop-neck All Saints tee at the black-tie premiere.
Instead, Dyer will be wearing a Paul Smith suit with a pair of (his words) “Louboutin trotters”, a blue shirt with a matching blue tie that reminds him of Ray Liotta in Goodfellas, and a vintage brooch. “My stylist puts me in stuff I would never be brave enough to pick,” says the actor, careful to also shout out tailor Faye Oakenfull, who he credits with ensuring his suit is fitted to perfection “round me derby”. (“That’s Derby Kelly, which means belly,” he translates helpfully.)
Self-deprecating remarks like this are par for the course when chatting to Dyer, even as he enjoys a new wave of success and acclaim more than 30 years into his career. (“I’m really grateful, and really tired,” he says of this chapter.) He tends to respond to questions about himself by heaping praise on the people around him – family, friends, co-stars, styling team. Asked to name a fashion icon he admires, Dyer points to the “very stylish” men of Rivals. “Aidan Turner always looks good, and Alex Hassell’s look at the BAFTAs was just beautiful. Then you’ve got Luke Pasqualino in his vintage Armani suits…”
For his part, Dyer enjoys the retro makeover required to play Fred-Fred, a loveable good guy amidst the corporate scoundrels and unreconstructed cads of ’80s Rutshire – even down to the lustrous ’tache and the bowl cut. “I love it, I wish it was my hair! Unfortunately, it’s a syrup.”
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