Behind the seams of ‘Recipes for Love and Murder’

What do you get when you mix a murder mystery, an agony aunt and a dash of her delectable cooking? The latest M-Net series, Recipes for Love and Murder.

Based on the novel by Sally Andrew, the series stars Irish songwriter and actress Maria Doyle Kennedy as  “Tannie” Maria and follows her mysterious past and recipes she cooks up for an advice column.

The series also features a shocking murder in its pilot episode which is investigated by the small town’s detective Khaya Meyer, played by Tony Kgoroge, and woke journalist Jessie September, played by Kylie Fisher.

There is dark humour and the show’s colourful set, cooking segments and scenery are a visual splendour.

With a show reel that boasts hits including Maze Runner and Black Mirror, local costume designer Nawaal Hendricks was tasked with bringing the characters to life through clothing. We take a look at what inspired the prints, palette and personal style of the quirky characters in the murder mystery.

The set is colourful and so are the clothes. What inspired this direction?

I love colour, even if it is dark colours. You express so much without saying anything. I had so much fun with the colour palette. After I designed all the characters based on how they looked in my head, I sat down with the director and we had fun bringing these magical characters to life.

A lot of filtering happens to show us the past and present. How did you dress the characters for these moments because it can easily change the colours of the clothes? 

That was very hard. There were a lot of times when I would be on set with a whole rail of clothing and testing the clothes in front of the camera. I couldn’t really prepare beforehand

Speaking of colours, what an interesting choice for the police uniform.

We’re no longer allowed to show real police uniforms on screen. We had to come up with a whole new concept. With police uniforms you need something that will stand out so you are able to spot them in a crowd or blend in so that you don’t see them in a crowd.

We tried to figure out what are we trying to do with the uniforms and came up with many different ideas. We did the beige, thing like a safari/game ranger sort of look, even the blues and teals and we came back to the colour palette we used. When we got them on set they were bright but it works. They pop. It’s like a caricature.

Tell us about Maria’s style.

She’s not a typical heroine, which I liked about all the characters. They were not stereotypical. With Maria’s wonderful curvaceous body, and she’s quite eccentric, even as an actress, she (Kennedy) had a vision of what she wanted to wear.

We tried on a whole lot of looks to find a style in which she would be comfortable. Most of her dresses are manufactured so we had to source the right fabric to see what colours and prints would work. We spent days sourcing the right kind of fabric for Tannie Maria. Her dresses are iconic because they make such a statement and make her pop in a scene.

Hattie (Jennifer Steyn) blends in with the colourful look of the town’s folk but is a chic version. What inspired her look?

This was such an interesting character. Se has such a great physique that she was easy to dress. I went looked for power suits but not the typical black or grey. I didn’t want it to be the typical idea of what it looks like. To make her stand out I got her blue, lilac and pink suits and it works because she is doing things differently compared to other people in the town. Even her office is pink.

When Candy (Rolanda Marais) arrives I noticed small similarities between her and Hattie. Was that intentional?

Yes. It is because of their history. Candy is family and they’ve lived a different lifestyle. They know more about the world and their wardrobe reflects that, especially Candy, who is so much more out there compared to anyone around her. She turns all the heads when she walks into a room.

Jessie is different from everyone else. Did you enjoy working on her outfits, considering they aren’t as colourful?

Her character was the most difficult to style. She’s a tomboy and a go-getter who is trying to make a name for herself by becoming a great news reporter. We wanted it to look like this is secondary, that all she wants is to get her work done. Her wardrobe isn’t something she wants to stand out until she realises, ‘hey, I am a woman. I do have an interest in a male and maybe I should start thinking about what I’m wearing’.

You will start to see the change when she starts putting a bit of colour and thought into her wardrobe. The dress she wears is amazing. It was difficult to get that tomboyish yet girly look for her.

More people are embracing colourful fashion choices. What advice can you give in terms of trying bold colour trends? 

I always try to use a flat colour, one bright colour that you can wear anything with. If you use just one bright, bold colour it can change absolutely everything in your wardrobe. It will change the personality and feel of it.

Recipes for Love and Murder airs on Sundays at 8pm.

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