MICHAEL HOWELLS

(13 January 1957 - 20 July 2018)

You may never have heard of the production and fashion designer Michael Howells, who has died aged 61, but his work on films and for television will be familiar to many. His last work was for the award-winning ITV series Victoria, which was outstanding as far as the production designs were concerned. Before that he designed Charles Sturridge’s TV movie Churchill’s Secret with Michael Gambon as Winston. Period designs seemed to be a speciality with Howells and among the films he designed were Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow, Princess Caraboo with Phoebe Cates, Bright Young Things, based on Evelyn Waugh’s Vile Bodies, Nanny McPhee with Emma Thompson and Colin Firth, An Ideal Husband with Cate Blanchett, Fairy Tale: A True Story, Ever After: A Cinderella Story, Miss Julie, Talk of Angels and Blackwood. Michael Howells also designed the TV series of Shackleton and The Game. Early on in his career he also worked with Peter Greenaway on The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, with Claude Miller on The Accompanist, and with John Duigan on Wide Sargasso Sea. The Michael Howells Studios also covered theatre designs, fashion and exhibitions for many of the top fashion houses.  

MICHAEL DARVELL