For 181 years, Angels in North London has been creating costumes for the best in theatre, film and TV.
The business has made costumes for The Crown, Spencer, Star Wars, House of Gucci, Game of Thrones and Its A Sin, to name just a few of the most recent and prominent productions.
The team have supplied costumes to 36 Best Costume Oscar winners and it was the first costume house to be recognised with a BAFTA for its contribution to the film industry.
READ MORE: The boy, 6, who loves the Tube so much he’s visited all 272 stations
(Image: Angels)
And the business is still run by the Angel family, and is now on its seventh generation.
It all started in 1813 when Daniel Angel moved from Frankfurt to London.
He started selling second hand clothes and later moved to Shaftesbury Avenue, where soon his clothes were being sought for West End productions. In 1840 Angels was founded.
When the film industry blossomed, the business branched out to make costumes for movies too.
By the late 1920s, Angels had established its name and when Madame Tussauds was destroyed by a fire, Angels made new costumes for all the waxworks.
Fast forward to 2015 and Angels supplied costumes to four of the five films nominated for Oscars in the best costume design category and all five films nominated for the equivalent at the BAFTAs.
The business has survived numerous difficult moments – it was almost decimated in a fire in the 1980s and now continues to thrive despite the pandemic.
One of the members of the seventh generation of Angels spoke to MyLondon about what its like working alongside his father, brother, and sister every day.
Jeremy Angel, who runs the business with his father, brother and sister, told MyLondon: “Normally, these businesses die out after the third generation. But for some reason our family always enjoyed working in costumes.”
His mother only recently stopped working at Angels, his brother always knew he wanted to work there, and Jeremy, 40, and his sister both tried their hands working in film only to be drawn back to the family business.
“A gun was never held to any of our heads,” said Jeremy, who is now production director but wears other hats around the business too.
“I went to university and then started working in films as an assistant director before I came here. I was supposed to be here for six months, its now been 15 years and I’m still here.”
Then there’s Jeremy’s father Tim Angel CBE.
(Image: Angels)
Jeremy continued: “The bigger problem is when you have the surname Angel you [know that] at some point one of us has to inherit my father’s shoes. And they’re two massive, massive shoes.
“What he’s done with this company is incredible.”
Tim is now 70 and has many decades of experience behind him.
Jeremy says his dad is “very, very aware” of what has happened in the past and doesn’t want mistakes to repeat themselves.
“We have always been very good at the whole not going to sleep angry mentality,” he added.
“There’s no point bearing a grudge as it affects it all.”
When they do argue, the Angel family move on straight away.
“I think lots of people would struggle with the fact that you have a row with someone and then the next minute you walk in and say ‘What are you doing this weekend, want to come over and see your nephew?’” said Jeremy.
“Its a different dynamic but I’ve definitely enjoyed it.”
Do you want to stay up to date with the latest news, views, features and opinion from across the city?
MyLondon’s brilliant newsletter The 12 is absolutely jam packed with all the latest to keep you keep you entertained, informed and uplifted.
You’ll get 12 stories straight to your inbox at around 12pm. It’s the perfect lunchtime read.
And what’s more – it’s FREE!
The MyLondon team tells London stories for Londoners. Our journalists cover all the news you need – from City Hall to your local streets, so you’ll never miss a moment.
Don’t skip a beat and sign up to The 12 newsletter here.
Jeremy and his sister, Emma, make a conscious effort to be family as well as colleagues.
He explained: “My sister and I have always been aware that because you work together every day it’s hard sometimes to maintain a normal relationship, but we have always gone out of our way to make sure at the end of each day we will have a phone call where we won’t talk about work.
“We can’t let the work take over everything else. We’re all very wary of it.”
*Angels was one of 10 businesses mentioned in SumUp’s list of 10 of the UK’s oldest family-run companies.
Do you have a story you think we should be covering? If so, email seren.hughes@reachplc.com
Want stories like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up to our FREE newsletters here.
