The story behind Sienna Miller’s divorce-chic costumes in War

Emily CroninTue, October 6, 2026 at 10:30 AM UTC

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Pinstripes and vintage suits make for a masterclass in power dressing - Sky/HBO/New Pictures/Miya Mizuno

It’s not often that a legal thriller makes its viewers long for an excuse to don a trouser suit. Yet, about 13 minutes into the first episode of new Sky Atlantic series War, Sienna Miller makes her first appearance as film star Carla Duval, dressed for a junket in a brown pinstriped suit, striped shirt and polka-dot tie – an ensemble so confident and precise, it had me pressing pause to search Vinted for pinstriped blazers.

As Carla, Miller plays the actress at the centre of an acrimonious divorce from Dominic West’s tech mogul, Morgan Henderson. The legal intrigues, subterfuge and spite in each episode make for compulsive viewing, but the real delights of the show are the costumes.

Take that trouser suit. It’s not just any suit; it’s a brown pinstriped 1990s vintage Dolce & Gabbana, worn with a striped Frankie Shop shirt and tie, and latter paired with a collectable coat from Alexander McQueen’s Autumn/Winter 2000 Eshu collection. “It tells us she has a history and gives her more depth of character,” says Matthew Price, the show’s costume designer. In this scene (and all the others, as it happens), Carla dresses like a woman aware of the power of her clothes – and aware that everyone is watching. “There’s a confidence in her outfits. She’s a fan of clothes. She’s a successful actress, so she would collect clothes and have a whole wardrobe, with 20 to 30 years’ worth of great pieces.”

Miller wears a brown pinstriped 1990s vintage Dolce & Gabbana suit, a striped Frankie Shop shirt and tie, and a collectable coat from Alexander McQueen - HBO/Sky Altantic/Miya Mizuno

A key reference was Claire Thomson-Jonville, head of editorial content at Vogue France. “I had her on a mood board, and when I first spoke to Sienna, she mentioned her as well. There’s an effortlessness to her that stood out to us.”

Price and Miller only had about two hours together before filming began: one 90-minute fitting and a 30-minute follow-up. “We were under a lot of pressure, but sometimes things just work.” They managed to style 15 looks during that first fitting; this included the black satinStella McCartney gownCarla wears for her film premiere, a pivotal scene. “It was the first dress she tried on. Sienna looked at it and she said: ‘That’s the dress.’”

Stella McCartney gown, £1,191, MyTheresa

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Beyond time pressure, Price’s main costuming challenge was concealing Miller’s growing bump, as the shoot coincided with her recent pregnancy. Miller was in the early stages of pregnancy when shooting began and heavily pregnant by the time it ended (the series wrapped in February and Miller is thought to have had her third child, a son, in May). “There [are] a couple of big bags in there,” Price laughs. He employed “little tricks with silhouettes and palette changes”, bringing in oversized suiting and swaggering coats as required.

Some pieces were altered or remade to fit the star’s changing shape. The black satin red-carpet gown seen in full-length at Carla’s premiere was let out when it came time to shoot the car scenes a few months later. Closer camera work and plenty of scenes around boardroom tables also helped. It all feels like Carla. “I’m really proud of the fact that we created a wardrobe that felt true to the character,” Price says.

Other highlights from Carla’s wardrobe include a killer Chloé tapestry jacquard jacket and miniskirt with over-the-knee boots worn for a tense mediation session (“There’s something brash and aggressive about it – it’s a ‘f--- you’ outfit, in a way”) and a fringed vintage Comme des Garçons coat Carla wears to court. “It felt quite flamboyant and I wondered if there would be a chance to get it in. As soon as Sienna tried it on, we knew she could make it work.”

Fringed vintage Comme des Garçons coat

Not that everything worn in the show comes from luxury and archival sources. The first great dress of the series comes from the high street, and it isn’t even Carla’s. It’s the open-backed satin dress worn by younger actress Flora, in an amber tone befitting her role as a honeytrap. Price says he went through “40 or 50” dresses and considered custom-making something for Flora before finding “The One” at House of CB (the Safaira dress, £199). “That was not an expensive dress, but she put it on and everyone stood back and went: ‘Oh, there we go.’”

Safaira dress, £199, House of CB

There’s a huge cast beyond Carla and Morgan (and Flora). The lawyers, with their varied approaches to workwear, are particularly fun to watch. They’re all distinct: Celia Imrie’s barrister Budgie favours luxe tailoring, while Nina Sosanya, as Cathcarts & Sons’ lead solicitor Beatrix (nickname: Her Majesty), takes a more avant-garde approach. “We had a lot of fun finding this slightly otherworldly corporate character.” She’s paid her dues and wears what she wants, such as barrel-leg trousers, colour-mismatched Camper shoes and Issey Miyake tops. The look for Emma Laird’s paralegal, meanwhile, was inspired by workwear influencer Kat from Finance.

As for the men, Morgan favours shirts in jarring colours and refuses to wear a tie. Mercenary junior associate Johnny wears a lot of slim-cut Paul Smith suits (“He’s slick but gets it slightly wrong by trying too hard with his wardrobe”). And then there’s Sinjin. The character Price most enjoyed costuming was Pip Torrens’s St John Smallwood, Morgan’s solicitor at Cathcarts. With his knit ties and three-piece suits, he’s classic Savile Row: “The nearest to a dandy of anyone on the show”. Except Carla and her brown Dolce pinstripes, of course.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”