Apparently, being a criminal comes with a dress code. Kaya Scodelario at the arms of Theo James, has arrived at The Gentlemen Season 2 premiere in Paolo Sebastian couture and Bulgari jewelry, so who are we to question it?
Last night, London’s Guildhall became the meeting point for aristocrats, gangsters and some very well-dressed actors as The Gentlemen celebrated the world premiere of its second season. And if the first season taught us anything, it is that apparently you can run a criminal empire and still worry about whether your tweed is sitting properly.
Created by Guy Ritchie, the Netflix series returns today, September 3, with Theo James back as Eddie Horniman. In Season 1, Eddie inherited his family’s country estate after his father’s death, only to discover that the perfectly respectable property was hiding something much less respectable underneath: an enormous illegal cannabis operation run by Susie Glass and her family.
What started as a problem to get rid of quickly became a business Eddie couldn’t quite walk away from. By Season 2, the reluctant duke is gone. Eddie has embraced both sides of his inheritance – aristocrat and criminal – and now wants to make the empire bigger. Much bigger. Eddie and Susie, played by Kaya Scodelario, are taking the operation beyond England and into Italy, while their already complicated relationship gets even more complicated.
And this time, they have some new people to deal with.
Hugh Bonneville joins as Lord Hawthorne, a well-connected member of the House of Lords who could offer Eddie access to a completely different kind of power: the respectable kind. Michele Morrone plays Cico Maldini, an Italian criminal and fixer who becomes Eddie and Susie’s man on the ground in Italy – although, according to Netflix, he is very much not someone they should trust too easily.
Then there is Benedetta Porcaroli as Bella, an Italian aristocrat who shares Eddie’s ability to move comfortably between nobility and danger. Their immediate connection adds another possible complication to Eddie’s already messy life. And Maya Jama joins as Aisha, bringing her from her familiar world of television into one of Guy Ritchie’s very different ones. It is also her first major scripted role, which makes her arrival one of the more unexpected additions to the cast.
But honestly, the plot is only half of the fun.
The Gentlemen has always understood that crime looks better when everyone is dressed for the occasion. The countryside aristocracy, London gangsters and Italian underworld each come with their own visual language, from sharp tailoring to tweed, houndstooth and statement accessories. Costume designer Loulou Bontemps has spoken about using British brands to build that exaggerated country-house world – and the attention to detail gets slightly ridiculous in the best way.
There were more than £6 million worth of watches featured across the first season, with real luxury pieces loaned for filming. One of Eddie’s watches even changes as his fortune does, moving from a relatively modest timepiece to a Patek Philippe Nautilus. The watches weren’t simply there to make everyone look rich; Bontemps used them to communicate class, personality and the difference between old and new money.
And then there are the moments that remind you this is still Guy Ritchie, not a documentary about British aristocracy.
Take that chicken scene from Season 1. Freddy Horniman, played by Daniel Ings, is literally forced to dress as a chicken and perform for gangster Tommy Dixon. It is completely absurd, deeply humiliating and somehow becomes one of the scenes people remember most. Netflix even has an official clip simply titled “THAT Chicken Breakdown Scene.”
That combination is probably the secret of The Gentlemen: beautiful houses, expensive watches and impeccable tailoring sitting directly next to drugs, violence, ridiculous costumes and people behaving completely unhinged.
At the premiere, Theo James, Kaya Scodelario, Maya Jama, Hugh Bonneville and the rest of the cast brought that same mixture of polish and chaos onto the Guildhall red carpet. Meanwhile, questions about rumours of Meghan Markle potentially joining a future season were floating around – although nobody seemed particularly interested in giving a straight answer.