"I did three films in a row, and that like, almost killed me," laughs Miyako Bellizzi, a Californian transplant in New York who’s yet to shake her home state's innate sangfroid. Moments earlier she noticed her car was about to be towed, and remained decidedly unfazed. “Ah man” she shrugged, before “oh, cool”-ing the assistant who volunteered to stop it happening.



Miyako Bellizzi at the New York Film Festival premiere of Uncut Gems, New York (2019) Dimitrios Kambouris

It’s a disposition that allowed the costume designer to exercise a calm approach to the research and development phase of Uncut Gems, the very-far-from-calm A24 hit that saw Adam Sandler surf critical success only to fall at the final hurdle of an Oscar nomination. The Internet remains very, very annoyed about it all. Still, there’s reason to be proud, and not just because his uncouth, deeply-flawed jeweller, Howard Ratner, remoulded the parable of the modern day antihero (“a rough and glittering thing of beauty,” said The New York Times’ Manohla Dargis; “clearly an arsehole," said we). Sandler is so convincing in the skin of a wise guy jeweller because, for Bellizzi, that guy exists. She spent months with that guy, and she spent months with so many others just like him.

"We had lots and lots of time to prep," says Bellizzi. "Uncut Gems was in the pipeline before I worked with Josh and Benny Safdie, the directors, on Good Time, so I knew about it all at least two years before. So we spent lots of time in the Diamond District itself taking photos and some more photos."

The jewellery quarter on New York's 47th Street, on the border of Little Brazil – where Uncut Gems is staged – houses over 2,600 stores, all competing for trade. "I got introduced to a few of the guys who owned businesses in the district, so it went from photographs to talking to them to seeing what they wear, and you get a fuller sense of who they are through what they wear."

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Slowly, Bellizzi began to envisage where Howard sat amongst all this. "There are different types of jewellers, and it's very specific. You've got legends like Jacob the Jeweller [an Uzbek-born American considered something of a holy man in the business], and other, gaudier guys who are a little younger, maybe like a generation younger than Howard." So, between the "classic double-breasted suits and Cartiers" of the Jacobs, and the "Balmain tees and skinny jeans" of the up-and-comers, Uncut Gems' resident gambling addict was somewhere in-between.

And it shows. The generational No Man's Land that Howard occupies is seen but never heard. His age isn't the point of difference at a packed club waiting for The Weeknd to perform: it's the oversized pink Cavalli-esque silk shirt he chooses for the occasion. The same can be said for his take on a leather jacket – crumpled, baggy, worn-in – and a foil to the trim bikers of the young guns. Howard is, in short, trying his best, though Bellizzi admits that his attempts "aren't the same" as the Givenchy T-shirted, much younger acquaintance he bumps into on his wild night out. It's worth noting that this small role was played by an actual real-life jeweller, too.

Howard (Sandler) and Julia (Julia Fox) leave the club in one memorable scene Julia Cervantes

What's more, on his bloody return following a night at the club, Howard scrambles for something to wear, designer clothing strewn across his office, tags attached. This, again, is not just a fictional illustration of heady excess. "People literally come into the stores with designer goods and bags and bags of clothes, and you can't tell if they're even real," says Bellizzi. "But that's where a lot of jewellers get their clothes. It might be off a truck, it might be from wherever, but that's why Howard has brand new clothes just lying around. That's not that unusual."

Nor is his brand of choice, Salvatore Ferragamo. The storied label is more known amongst those that enjoy a deeper flirtation with luxury fashion, but for 47th Street (and indeed, Howard's rotation of belts and shoes), the Italian label is ubiquitous. "This is what these guys are wearing, it's like, their favourite designer," says Bellizzi. "Sometimes it's Gucci, but everyone wears the Salvatore Ferragamo loafers and the matching belt, and it was something we spotted early on." Indeed, Sandler is rarely seen without the house's signature interlocking Gancini buckle. "It's on the security guards and the diamond dealers and the shop assistants, and even the women are wearing it – the miniature little belt. I didn't really expect Ferragamo, but I love that."



"Everyone wears the Salvatore Ferragamo loafers, and it was something we spotted early on"

It's the sort of designer showboating that's not just common in the Diamond District, but faithful to the era. Uncut Gems takes places in 2012, a post-crash, late capitalist moment when wealth, and its acquisition, made people nervous. And it's a world that's just as recognisable in 2020: what better way to consolidate your cash than to wear it?

"A lot has changed in fashion and streetwear and brands in the last 10 years, and it's set before the big hype culture thing. But still, the brands are there in Giuseppe Zanotti and Gucci. There's even the Versace tracksuit right at the end. Everyone's reading glasses are Cartier, and you can only really find those in New York."

Julia Cervantes

Still, there's only so much that clothes can offer a character, and it's Adam Sandler's performance that gives Uncut Gems its gut-wrenching grit. Bellizzi was always convinced of the 53-year-old's craft, despite his many critics: "I was so excited when Josh [Safdie] told me it'd be Adam, we were like yes, he's perfect for it." What's more, the frantic, stress-inducing storyline rang true for the costume designer.

"It's a crazy underworld, the whole business of where stuff comes from, the crazy process to get from point A to B," says Bellizzi. "It blew me away how much it's like this Jewish mafia: they're dealing with millions of dollars of jewellery. In terms of security and weapons and the things they have, I do kinda get that it's got to be on lockdown, and they're very careful about who they let into the shop." Several stories stick out. "Some of the guys we met told us about what really goes down on 47th Street, like shootings, and killings, and thefts, and it's just kinda wild."

"The guys we met told us about what really goes down on 47th Street, like shootings, and killings"

Bellizzi was keen to stress that, despite all the skulduggery and danger, it was a welcoming place: "the people themselves are great people, it's just the business that's wild." And she was quick to praise one man in particular, who stood as proof that it wasn't just the outfits that were plucked from the corners of Little Brazil (even the costume bling was loaned from Avianne & Co., a jewellers that suffered a $4 million diamond heist in the August of last year). The unsung breakout of Uncut Gems is perhaps Arno's poorly-tempered heavy Phil - a role as authentic as they come. "He should be a movie in himself, he's called Keith Williams Richards, they just street-casted him out of the blue in New York," says Bellizzi. "We still talk to this day."

Julia Cervantes

Indeed, there's a certain menace to the New York henchman, played by a man who refused to expand upon his prior relationship with the mob in an interview to culture site Uproxx: "Listen, I'm a kid from Brooklyn. What do you think? You know? That's all I'm going to say about that." Bellizzi highlights his suit and turtleneck as some of her favourite pieces from the film.

We'll let you guess the label.



Uncut Gems is available now on Netflix UK



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