Alan Cumming's Stylist Reveals Secrets to His Killer Traitors Fashion

“He wanted to be a fashion dandy,” Sam explained. “So, there were keywords, like ‘a glamorous James Bond villain.’ But Scottish apparel was always an influence. It's always a mix of glam, Scottish, villainy.”

Plus, each episode’s missions inspire the planning of the outfits. In fact, eagle-eyed viewers may find that the looks Alan wears to breakfast often contain Easter eggs about the missions—but “not the identity of the Traitors, ever.” 

“I've never done that,” shared Sam, who is not in Scotland for filming and sees his work in-action for the first time by watching the episodes weekly. “I don't know who the Traitors are until I watch with you, so I'm not privy to that information, which is great.”

The celebrity stylist—who has also worked with Daniel Radcliffe, Andy Samberg and Kevin Jonas—added, “Sometimes I'm given info that there should be a clue. I was told once to add a key or something that would be referenced later in a quiz. But mostly the clues are at breakfast.”

What viewers might not realize about Alan’s one-of-a-kind outfits, though, is that they’re just that: One of a kind. 

“There are no backups,” Sam said. “We only create one outfit an episode, and then they're embellished on [throughout the episode]. The breakfast look is a pared down version of the mission look. Usually he'll wear a suit that's plain, and then I'll embellish the suit in some way for the mission, and then he'll probably take off the jacket for the round table.”

“But,” he emphasized, “we don't create any extra looks.”

And that minimalist approach can prompt some creativity for the wardrobe department on set when the schedule changes. 

“Sometimes at the last minute, the challenge or the mission or the order will change, and we'll change everything around at the last second,” Sam shared. “I'm getting texts or calls while they're filming, and they're saying, ‘We're changing the order of the episodes. So, what would work best here?’” 

But at the end of the day, the need to “figure out what works and what doesn't work at the last second” doesn’t worry Sam since he has confidence in his client. As he put it, “Alan is such a chameleon that he can pull off anything.”  

In addition to Alan, a cast full of celebs are rocking their own stylist wardrobes this season. Read on to see who all is competing in season four of The Traitors.