Big hair, power shoulders, fabulous jewellery and a little Joan Rivers inspiration. Behind the scenes of my latest styling project for Rapha.
There's something wonderfully nostalgic about the 1990s. The fashion, the television, the slightly questionable graphics, the enormous computers and those gloriously over-the-top personalities who seemed to dominate our screens.
So when I was asked to style a new campaign for cycling brand Rapha, taking us all the way back to 1996, I knew this was going to be a fun one!
The campaign was for Rapha NOVANTASEI, and the creative concept involved recreating the world of 1990s television. Think serious news bulletins, late-night shopping channels and all those wonderfully dated visual details that instantly transport you back thirty years.
My job was to bring two very different television characters to life through their wardrobes: a straight-faced newsreader and a fabulously glamorous shopping channel presenter.
And naturally, that meant a little rummage through the costume hire houses!
The Great 90s Wardrobe Hunt
One of my favourite parts of costume design and styling is the sourcing process. There's something incredibly satisfying about searching through rails of clothing and drawers of accessories, looking for those particular pieces that make a character suddenly click.
For this project, I wanted the costumes to feel genuinely rooted in the 1990s, rather than like fancy dress versions of the decade.
It's a subtle difference, but an important one.
The right silhouette, the shape of a jacket, the width of a tie or the style of an earring can tell you so much about when a character belongs.
I spent time exploring the costume hire houses, searching through vintage tailoring and accessories, looking for pieces that had just the right amount of 90s personality.
And of course, I couldn't resist getting stuck into the jewellery collections.
Trays of oversized gold earrings, brooches, chunky bracelets and statement necklaces. Absolute heaven!
Sometimes it's the smallest accessories that do the most work.
Breaking News! Creating Our 1996 Newsreader
First up was our news anchor.
I wanted him to feel like he'd stepped straight out of a mid-90s television newsroom. Professional, serious and just a little bit awkward in that wonderfully authentic way.
The starting point was a charcoal three-piece suit. The slightly generous cut and traditional tailoring immediately gave us the right silhouette.
I paired it with a striped shirt, a brilliantly 90s patterned tie and a pair of oversized metal-framed glasses.
Then came the finishing touches: a wristwatch, neatly styled hair and, of course, that rather magnificent moustache!
What I love about this look is that nothing is particularly outrageous on its own. But put everything together, sit him behind a wooden desk with an enormous old computer and suddenly you're watching the six o'clock news in 1996.
It's all about the details.
Shopping Channel Glamour, Darling! A Little Joan Rivers Inspiration
Now, this was where we could really have some fun!
When I started thinking about our glamorous shopping channel presenter, there was one woman who immediately sprang to mind.
The fabulous, outrageous and utterly wonderful Joan Rivers.
I've always loved Joan. Her razor-sharp wit, larger-than-life personality, fabulous sense of style and complete refusal to be anything other than herself. She was an absolute force of nature, and nobody quite did glamour and comedy like Joan.
Of course, Joan wasn't just a legendary comedian and television personality. She was also something of a pioneer in the world of television shopping.
In September 1990, she launched her Joan Rivers Classics Collection on QVC, initially specialising in costume jewellery. She had a genuine passion for fashion and accessories, particularly fabulous statement pieces that looked luxurious without necessarily costing a fortune.
And she knew how to sell them!
Her QVC appearances were a wonderful mixture of glamour, personality, humour and unapologetic enthusiasm. She understood that shopping television could be entertaining as well as commercial, and she brought her unmistakable Joan Rivers energy to every appearance.
By 1996, Joan was already a familiar face on QVC, making her the perfect inspiration for our shopping channel host.
I didn't want to recreate Joan exactly, but rather capture something of that fabulous confidence and theatrical glamour.
I also looked towards the opulent world of 1990s Versace, with its strong silhouettes, sculpted shoulders, decorative embellishments and love of gold.
After searching through the costume hire houses, I found a fabulous black tailored jacket with dramatic shoulders, swirling detailing and beautiful gold buttons. It had exactly the kind of presence I wanted.
Paired with a simple black skirt, it gave us that wonderfully polished, slightly extravagant television presenter silhouette.
And then came my favourite part.
The jewellery!
I spent ages rummaging through the hire house accessory collections, pulling out gold earrings, statement necklaces, decorative brooches and chunky bracelets.
Joan absolutely adored costume jewellery, and I wanted our presenter to have that same sense of fun and extravagance. The kind of woman who would happily wear a fabulous gold necklace to sell you a kitchen appliance at two in the afternoon.
More is more, darling!
We finished the look with glamorous blonde hair, beautifully styled into a big, polished 90s blow-dry.
And there she was. Our very own shopping channel superstar.
A little Versace, a little QVC and a great big nod to the wonderful Joan Rivers.
I think Joan would have approved. And probably had something hilariously inappropriate to say about it, too!
What a legend. 💛
It's All in the Accessories
One thing this project really reminded me of is just how important accessories are in character creation.
You can have the perfect suit or jacket, but without the right finishing touches, the character can still feel incomplete.
For our newsreader, it was the glasses, tie and watch that helped establish his personality.
For our presenter, it was all about the jewellery. The gold, the sparkle, the statement pieces that made her feel like someone who would be completely at home presenting a late-night shopping extravaganza.
I love being able to spread out all my options on a table, experimenting with combinations and seeing what works.
Sometimes the piece you thought would be perfect doesn't quite work once it's on the actor. And sometimes something you picked up almost as an afterthought becomes the finishing touch that pulls the whole look together.
That's the joy of styling.
The travelling Jewellery Kit!
From Costume Rail to Camera
One of the loveliest things about working on commercials is seeing how quickly everything comes together.
You can spend days researching, sourcing and preparing the wardrobe, but it's when the actors step onto the set that the characters really come alive.
And the production design on this shoot was such fun.
The green screen, the retro computer equipment, the television shopping set, the mannequins and all those nostalgic graphics worked beautifully with the costumes.
Seeing the finished footage, complete with its wonderfully 90s television treatment, was a real treat.
It's always satisfying when every department's work comes together to create a convincing little world.
A Little 90s Nostalgia
I had such a lovely time working on this project with the Rapha team.
It was a brilliant opportunity to revisit a decade with such a distinctive visual identity, and a reminder that costume design isn't always about creating something spectacular or extravagant.
Sometimes it's about finding exactly the right ordinary-looking suit, an unusual patterned tie or a fabulously over-the-top pair of gold earrings.
Those little choices are what make a character believable.
And for me, getting to channel a little of the wonderful Joan Rivers along the way made it even more enjoyable.
Any job that involves digging through vintage jewellery, recreating 90s television and embracing a bit of Versace-inspired glamour is always going to be a winner in my book.
Until the next adventure!
Px 💘
Head to my insta - to see the videos - @patrickjack
Project Credits
Client: Rapha
Campaign: NOVANTASEI
Styling: Patrick Jack – @patrickjack
The Creative Team
Director/DOP: @adam.todhunter
Head of Brand & Creative: @samuel4eyes
Art Director: @sean_______steed
1st AC: @coreybartlesanderson
Sound Op: @olliedrummond
Script: @rosseyeview
Social Editor: @conor_courtney
Producer: @ellakrohnn
Art Department: @elliekoslowsky
MUA: @tomfrasermua
Hair: @byleannemillar
Runner: Emily Hills
News Anchor: @daaaanjj
Shopping Channel Presenter: @shonalindsay
