I love movies, and one of my favourite films of the year is also the most recent one I watched.
The Roses, starring the ever-wonderful Olivia Colman (Ivy Rose) and the equally talented Benedict Cumberbatch (Theo Rose), is a brilliant dark comedy about a marriage gone wrong, with plenty of hilarious moments to lighten the mood.
There’s even a scene where Kate McKinnon’s character, Amy, delivers the line, “I never thought watching a white man reclaim his power could be so moving” – it had me in stitches in the cinema.
I won’t go too far into spoiler territory, but one of the film’s pivotal threads is Theo’s relationship with sport, particularly running. Cumberbatch spends a good portion of the film in athletic kit, which makes the costume choices all the more noticeable.
Quiet luxury meets running gear
Costume designer PC Williams built the film’s wardrobe around the idea that Ivy and Theo express creativity in different ways.
Ivy, a chef, wears playful prints and expressive shapes that grow more structured as her career takes off.
Theo, the architect, embodies what Williams calls “quiet luxury”: muted colours, natural tones, and modular practicality that reflect his domestic retreat as his career falters.
That explains why he’s often dressed in understated labels like Sunspel, Oliver Spencer, and Loro Piana, and why his running gear feels carefully chosen rather than incidental.
Spotting him in On kit makes sense; the Swiss brand has become a uniform for style-conscious professionals, a category Theo neatly fits into.
Halfway through the film, though, something unusual caught my eye. In one running scene, Cumberbatch wears a Stormshell running jacket from Inov8, a much smaller British brand best known in trail circles.
It wasn’t just me who noticed. “It was a really nice surprise to see Benedict sporting our waterproof STORMSHELL running jacket,” said Lee Procter, Inov8 PR & Comms Manager.
According to him, the jacket has been the brand’s best-seller for years thanks to its 20,000mm waterproof rating, 20,000 B-1 breathability, sub-150g weight, and pocket-packable design.
Symbolism in the wardrobe
Seen in the context of Williams’ design philosophy, the Inov8 cameo takes on more meaning.
As Theo retreats further into domesticity, Williams wanted his wardrobe to layer up and become more practical.
The Stormshell jacket fits that arc perfectly: it’s lightweight protection, grounded in earth tones, and rooted in functionality.
A fun detail is that the version worn in the film features Inov8’s old logo, retired in early 2024 during the brand’s 20th anniversary.
That suggests the jacket wasn’t paid placement but an authentic styling choice, something Theo might realistically own.
And given that much of The Roses was filmed in Salcombe, UK, with both Colman and Cumberbatch as British leads, the presence of a homegrown brand feels like a deliberate touch.
A storm in trail running circles
For Inov8, the cameo has already paid dividends. “Since the release of the film, we’ve had scores of brand fans get in touch to tell us about the jacket’s starring role,” Procter added. “It’s whipped up a bit of a storm, you could say.”
The Stormshell Running Jacket is available now at Inov8 UK and Inov8 US in both men’s and women’s versions, with a recommended retail price of £160 / $185 (~AU$327).
