Carey Mulligan and Emerald Fennell create Saltburn-inspired t-shirts
Carey Mulligan and Emerald Fennell first met when they were teenagers. Little did they know back then, but they would go on to work together on culture-defining films like Promising Young Woman and Saltburn. "She's direct, no nonsense, and she has a huge amount of empathy," Mulligan tells Harper's Bazaar of Fennell. "She's hilarious, audacious, unbelievably generous and she would do anything to avoid being thanked for her generosity. She’s been a huge supporter of War Child. And she calls me 'mate'."
Now, the actress and director are turning their talents away from film to fashion design, having collaborated with the aforementioned children's charity to create a line of Saltburn-inspired t-shirts, with the proceeds going directly to protecting and educating young people living among the world's most dangerous conflicts. The line of slogan tees has even received the stamp of approval from their Saltburn collaborators: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi and Rosamund Pike.
The collaboration features eight limited-edition t-shirts created for the charity's emergency Christmas appeal and, in tribute to the inimitable fashion of the 2000s, they have been lovingly crafted using Microsoft Word in a tasteful selection of license-free fonts. The pair even humorously defined the t-shirts as "the perfect gift for your cold-blooded father, sexually incontinent daughter, or s**t-stirring cousin". The designs are available to buy online until 16 January 2025.
From phrases ranging from "terrible person" to "bootlicker", the collection celebrates one of last year's most talked-about films – and all for good cause. On deciding on which quotes to use, Mulligan (who played Pamela in Saltburn) tells us: "We were just thinking of doing a 'Poor Dear Pamela' t-shirt. But Emerald had the brilliant idea of making insult t-shirts for the whole cast. Because they are all a bunch of legends we knew they would jump in to support their various characters' t-shirts – which of course, they all did."
Of course, dark humour was intrinsically entwined into the hit film. "A lot of people said they didn’t realise I was funny," adds Mulligan. "Which is weird, because I thought Maestro was a rom-com."
Mulligan and her husband, the musician Marcus Mumford, are longtime ambassadors for War Child, and the actress has personally witnessed the life-changing impact of charitable donations. "We have been ambassadors for 10 years and in that time we’ve visited their projects in Jordan, Iraq, DRC, Gaza, CAR, Uganda and Ukraine. We’ve seen first-hand how their programmes help traumatised children rebuild their lives and find the hope of a future again. Once you’ve been lucky enough to witness that, you are a War Child supporter for life."
Mulligan and Mumford are known for their philanthropic efforts, and host an annual fundraiser for the charity Children in Conflict. The festive occasion, titled 'Wassail' (which, in short, means to drink and enjoy during the Christmas period), recently marked its 11th year and welcomed guests such as Julianne Moore, Stephen Spielburg and Emily Blunt. Crucially, the fundraiser has also raised more than £11 million in its time for the charity's humanitarian efforts of providing children with education, protection, and psychosocial support.
"It was our 11th and most successful Wassail, so we were over the moon," explains Mulligan. "The absolute highlight for me was hearing our new friend Emmanuella Musafiri speak. We met in Uganda and she runs an organisation called Tumaini, which is one of our partner organisations providing psychological first aid to children."
You can shop the Saltburn and War Child T-Shirts here until 16 January, 2025.
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