Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones," including speculation of future events.
Costume designer Michele Clapton is the brilliant mind behind every ornately embroidered gown and dashing new fur cloak the "Game of Thrones" characters don on each episode. Over the course of the series, Clapton has made it her mission to help inform the evolution each characters' journey through their costumes.
"I love the details," Clapton told INSIDER. "Some people say, 'Well, why don't you make it more obvious,' but that's the joy of 'Game of Thrones' — you have to search things out."
We spoke with Clapton about crafting new season seven costumes for the two biggest female power players in the series — Cersei Lannister and Daenerys Targaryen — and what their new styles mean for their journey ahead.
Kim Renfro: Based on the new trailers and released photos for season seven, it seems as though black and silver are the new thematic colors for both Cersei and Daenerys — why did you choose that palette for both of those characters?
Michele Clapton: Well, we've had six seasons so far where we've explored different areas and it's coming down to the crux now. And actually with Dany, subliminally it's monochrome but there's actually red there — a little bit of her house colors coming in finally.
And it’s coming to a point [where] everything is almost polarized. So I love the idea of all the women, and actually everything, is almost mono-chromed. It's about winning the throne, all the challenges they have, the threats from over the wall, everything. Each of the women's costumes have all become quite dark but there's details within each of them that are incredibly important.
Renfro: What are some specific details fans should look for in Daenerys' new gowns?
Clapton: You know Dany is now moved from the heat of [Meereen] and she's come north, so we obviously see her covered much more than we're used to. And then her army is the Unsullied, so we're trying to blend it all in and make them become a force.
With Dany especially, people used to say, "Well, why doesn't she wear red?" Now you do finally start seeing it creeping in through the scaling and embroidery on her dresses. It's just a touch. And she now has this fantastic new chain we've created. I didn't want her to have a crown, I wanted her to have a chain. And she has a red sash hanging from it, which is slightly scaled and pleated as well.
Renfro: Why didn't you want Dany to have a crown?
Clapton: Well, she's not the queen yet. You can't have a crown until you are queen. You can have the chain, but until you get the throne you're not queen. I liked that she's wearing everything she can to show her status but she can't wear the crown because it'd be wearing it before it was due.
I think each thing — the [dragon] links in the chain for instance — everything about [her costume] has symbolism and that's what I find so interesting in designing the costumes. You should be able to look at each character and almost mentally know what they're trying to say.
You can see in the way [Dany is] dressing that she's almost assuming the power but not quite. With all the colors and the details and the essence — it just becomes stronger. The width of the shoulders give her strength, the chain gives her strength. I tried to make the cut of the costumes just slightly more like a uniform and almost less feminine.
This is the time when it's all really going to matter, and so there's a power play between her and Cersei. It's like a standoff. And I think they've both reached a place where it's not about femininity, it's about their strength as women. They are the leaders, and so the femininity doesn't come as quickly into it.
Renfro: What is driving the story behind Cersei's new black and silver look?
Clapton: With Cersei, at this point, she's attained the throne and there's a strength in her embroidery. It's actually quite ornate and over the top and that's a precursor in a funny way — it's the last gasp before something else, in my sense. It's a weird flamboyance, but it's quite hard as well.
And we've also shortened her dress so it makes her less vulnerable. She can move and she can be a little bit like Dany in a way, because it's not quite as restrictive. [Cersei] always had strong collars and strong shoulders, so I thought this [dress] should take it the furthest I can take it before it's not there.
Clapton:It's a journey on each of them — if you look back at where they first started it's quite interesting to see. People always say "Why don't you have this, why can't you add that?" and it's like "Well sometimes you have to wait for that — you have to wait for the journey and for them to seek it out."
With Dany in particular, finally we're getting the [Targaryen] red. She was a confused woman, she was wandering ... trying to seek something. And now she's finally got her armor, she's finally got everything, and she can finally echo the style of her brother with the extended shoulders and the red and the symbolism. He always had the big Targaryen [sigil] on his chest and now she's got the big chain with the dragon's heads on it.
Clapton: So it's still a journey and it will be interesting to see where they go. Season seven hasn’t been released yet, so the things you have seen are just a part of the journey.
Renfro: Is there an overall theme that ties the women of Westeros together this season?
Clapton: There's just a showing of strength among the women, and in a funny way this is true with Sansa as well. She has the chain she has the circle, she's bringing all that she's been through to her costume. You need to look at the story. Her strength and the way that she's clothed to protect herself from the things that have happened. At the same time, she's beginning to assert herself as an independent woman and not actually being manipulated by anyone anymore. And so it's just a stepping forward of each of these three women — well fourth if you include Arya.
[The new costumes were] just about them being strong women and showing what they had been through to get where they were. I always try to tell that story — the costumes for me are narrative and you should be able to look at them and understand where they are mentally in their journey. I think they've all found a strength and achieved something.
In Cersei's case she’s finally achieved the throne. For Dany, she feels like she will achieve the throne. Sansa has finally become independent from a lot of the people that she's been reliant on, though maybe not Littlefinger. It was a way of darkening up these women and trying to show that were fighting each other not from a point of femininity but from the point of a person.
Renfro: Were there any contemporary designers or historical cultures that influenced the new season seven costumes?
Clapton: It's funny — I think in the beginning I was probably inspired much more by contemporary and period costumes but now their characters actually inspire [me] and I look outside of them much less often. Of course, sometimes I'll pick up on something interesting [in the real world] but on the whole I tend to look at their story now.
Clapton: At this stage, everything has reach such a zenith in their character development that everything they do and say symbolically means something. Even Dany's rings, her jewelry — every single bit says something the character. From the brittleness of the glass on Cersei and the metal rings on Dany and the way that now other are wearing things to show their allegiance. We try to be really symbolic about everything everyone wears now.
"Game of Thrones" season seven premieres July 16 on HBO.
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: A Navy SEAL explains what to do if you're attacked by a dog