“Black Dove” is ostensibly an action-thriller series about a gritty British spy who risks everything to avenge his handsome murdered lover. But there is something more important at stake. Black Dove is a show in which Keira Knightley wears a really chic coat.

In this six-part Netflix mystery set in Christmas London, Knightley transforms into Helen Webb, a loyal mother and politician's wife who leads a double life as an agent selling state secrets to the highest bidder. (Honestly, who could play the “woman who seems a little hard to love at first” better than Knightley?)

This pro.

From this plot synopsis, one might expect her wardrobe to be extremely split between the wife of a conservative Tory and an undercover agent. However, costume designer Ian Fulcher found a clever way to merge Helen's two identities into one ongoing understanding of personal style. After all, that is perhaps the central theme of the show: two parts of the same person added together make one restless figure.

“Even if there was a duality in her appearance,” Fulcher explains, “we needed to make it believable that if Helen went out to work and bumped into someone she knew as the wife of a congressman, her attire would not look strange.

Therefore, Fulcher made sure that Helen's attire was consistent both in her daily life and in her undercover work. The burgundy or orange cashmere roll-neck sweaters and wide-leg jeans she wears in her “normal” life remain the same when she goes out at night to hunt down her enemies. The only difference is that over that quiet, luxurious attire, I sometimes throw on my trusty old brown leather jacket that I once wore in the field. Like any true working mother in the city, Helen needs a wardrobe that can take her from day to night.

“Black Dove” is a contemporary show, but Fulcher's references for Helen's wardrobe come from the golden age of classic crime thriller films and spy dramas.

“From the beginning,” says Fulcher, “films from the ‘60s and ’70s such as ‘Crute,’ ‘The Parallax View,’ and ‘Marathon Man’ were a major influence on the overall design spirit of the show.” For Helen, he incorporated iconic figures such as Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour and the cool, classic Grace Kelly from the 50s and 60s into the concept board.

“And also the odd image of a British Member of Parliament's wife looking effortlessly stylish.

The 70s influence is most apparent in Helen's flashback scene. She wears high-waisted, wide-cut jeans with '70s-style embroidered slim soles and a cropped burnt-amber parka over a nostalgic olive green parka coat. Other '60s-inspired styles include high-waisted pants and maxi skirts worn with cashmere sweaters or silk blouses and wide belts.

“It embodies the classic spy genre, so keeping that classic mold felt right to retain,” Fulcher explains.

Fulcher's meticulous approach extended to Helen's carefully controlled color palette. His attention to these shades often meant that much of Helen's wardrobe had to be created from scratch.

“In the end, I made all of Helen's, Sam's, and Reed's coats. It took me three weeks and many fabric stores in England and Europe to find the right shade of tobacco for Helen's coat.”

However, the costume designer was most proud of the matching set of burgundy silk blouse and pleated skirt that Helen wore to host a family Christmas party in “Black Dove” season 1. This look, too, was custom ordered for “the perfect tone of color and the right cut. “

“I made everything from the silk blouse to the pleated maxi skirt to the matching suede belt,” she says. All the textures and sheen give her an elegant stiffness that gives her the duality of hosting a party and confronting Reid with a knife ten minutes later.”

You get a girl who can do both, I suppose.

Most of Helen's clothes are custom-made, but you can find similar pieces that catch her nostalgic cryptic and high-profile housewife vibe.