Theatre Royal Drury Lane originally commissioned the Glaswegian designer to update its uniforms (based on the ensembles worn by high-society toastmasters) in 2021. “Theatre Royal Drury Lane has an extensive art collection, including illustrations by costume designer Cecil Beaton, which allowed me to peer into the stories and experiences the Red Coats might have had,” Jeffrey said at the time. Alongside the theatre’s Greek Revival architecture, the Loverboy Red Coats combine Mark Rothko’s lyrical application of the color red with Anglo-Saxon runes relating to service and help.
“There’s a wealth of art, costumes, and architectural details within the theatre,” Jeffrey says. “And Loverboy has always been about this cross-pollination between different mediums.” All trompe l’oeil waistcoats, drainpipe trousers, and platform creepers, the resulting look might seem a little alternative for such a commercial venue, but it’s a pleasing collision of British archetypes: ragtag scene kids working the matinée shift at Frozen the Musical. For Vogue World, those uniforms have been refreshed with the brooding, black-panelled tartans of the MacQueen and Cameron clans of Scotland.
