Heated Rivalry’s costume designer on the show’s hottest style moments — yes, including the ‘tuna melt pants’

Heated Rivalry, the Canadian TV show based on the queer hockey romance novels by Nova Scotia author Rachel Reid, is quite literally everywhere right now. 

The leads of the boundary-pushing series, Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, are booked and busy: presenting at the Golden Globes this past weekend, making their debuts on late-night shows and appearing on podcasts. And all over social media and on countless Reddit threads, legions of fans are talking about what their characters, Shane and Ilya, are wearing on the show (despite the fact that many of its most popular scenes do without clothing altogether). 

If you’re a fan of the show from creator Jacob Tierney, or just follow pop culture in general, you’ve likely already come across that viral Team Canada fleece on your feeds. But there are so many more looks to talk about in the spicy Crave series. 

For a deeper dive into some of Heated Rivalry’s most memorable fashion moments, we reached out to the show’s Toronto-based costume designer Hanna Puley, who shared her thought process behind the fits and what they can tell us about the multi-faceted characters. 

Ilya’s ‘tuna melt pants’

During a pivotal scene in Episode 4, Ilya invites Shane over to his place, greeting him in nothing but a pair of black drop-crotch pants and matching slides. After sex, Ilya prepares tuna melt sandwiches for the both of them, before things get steamy again (naturally). 

The name behind the now infamous “tuna melt pants”? American designer Rick Owens, who’s known for his provocative ready-to-wear collections, as well his lavish streetwear basics boasting elongated proportions and intriguing cuts. “They evoke so much cultural expectation,” said Puley. “What Rick Owens does is so fun and challenging and interesting, and I think that kind of speaks to who Ilya is as well.”

Ilya also has a penchant for the finer things in life, she explained, which made these pants a great fit. “They’re not screaming for attention, but they’re still extremely expensive loungewear.”

Sasha’s floral blouse

In Episode 2, viewers meet Ilya’s former flame, Sasha, played by actor Kaden Connors. In this scene, he’s decked out in a floaty black blouse stamped with red roses by Enfants Riches Déprimés, which Puley sourced from Toronto vintage shop 20 Maud.

A lot of the L.A. and Paris-based brand’s designs are “a bit subversive … a little bit bratty in some ways,” she said. “I kind of like that for the Russian characters because they do kind of feel like they’re thumbing their nose at the expectation of both their country and their families.”

At the same time, the sheerness of the piece allowed for Puley to experiment with the idea of “softness in a hypermasculine society,” she said. “So for me, that shirt was kind of not even a question ... I’m glad that it made it into the show.”

Ilya’s patchwork jacket

In the pilot episode, Ilya wears a patchwork denim chore coat to a hotel rendezvous with Shane. 

“That one is actually a Hugo Boss jacket that I just really love,” Puley said. “[It’s] a bit of a surprising take on both a chore coat and denim jacket, which I liked for Ilya because it feels really youthful.”

The piece was originally paired with camouflage pants, but Tierney — best known for his work on Letterkenny and its spin-off, Shoresy — felt they were too bold, Puley says. So she swapped them out for a pair of Diesel jeans, which felt like the right choice for Ilya. “They feel a bit Euro in a way,” she said. 

The result is a subtle Canadian tuxedo for the Russian character. “I know if [I] can put in little nods to our country where I can, there’s something really nice about that visual language that will evoke certain things for the audience,” said Puley. 

Rose’s leopard-print shirt

During Shane’s meet-cute with Rose Landry (Sophie Nélisse) in Episode 4, the famous actress stands out in her bold red-and-black leopard-print Miu Miu shirt. 

Leopard print tends to be associated with a certain type of character and is “inherently sexy,” said Puley. However, the shirt’s sweet Peter Pan collar tempers the overall vibe. “The fact that it’s still a bit of an innocuous, demure option makes her feel a bit like a safe choice, I think, for Shane,” she explained.

The look also helps to convey Rose’s character, said Puley. “She’s confident, but she’s also not aggressive in any way.”

Ilya’s club shirt

Puley also dressed Ilya in leopard print in Episode 4 for the show’s unforgettable nightclub scene, but to a very different effect.

At this point in the season, Shane and Rose have gone public with their relationship, and Ilya is  “feeling a little bit itchy and needing to go get attention somehow,” said Puley. Enter the fitted leopard-print piece from Jean Paul Gaultier’s Fall 1998 collection, also sourced from Toronto’s 20 Maud. The shirt aligns with Ilya’s other luxurious fashion choices while speaking to his emotional state: on the prowl for a rebound. 

It also foreshadows the end of the night when Ilya is “essentially skinned” after spotting Shane and Rose dancing together in the club, Puley said. “He loses a lot of his power and ends up going home alone.” 

Rose’s silver club dress

If your mind instantly went to Keira Knightley’s clubbing top in Bend It Like Beckham or Paris Hilton’s silver 21st birthday dress when seeing Rose’s night-out frock in Episode 4, you’re not alone. “That’s kind of what I was trying to do,” said Puley. 

Her goal was to make Rose look super confident, but not like she was reinventing the wheel. “I kind of wanted to make that connotation with Hollywood, where there’s a lot of visual quoting that people do in terms of how they want to present themselves and what icons they want to connect to,” she said. 

Instead of sourcing from a shop or pulling from a designer, Puley created this dress herself using a sparkly mesh fabric she ordered online. Working on bigger shows often means costume designers don’t get the chance to create pieces from scratch, she said, so she appreciated the opportunity to flex those muscles and craft an eye-catching number that fit Nélisse perfectly — even if it meant making final adjustments up until the camera started rolling. 

“I was definitely on my knees [in the green room] while they were going over their lines, trying to sew the seams together,” she said with a laugh. 

Kip’s friends’ fits

In Episode 3, Kip Grady — a barista played by Robbie G.K. — is introduced, along with his group of friends. For these characters, Puley says she wanted to experiment more with colour and vintage pieces to express each person’s individuality. 

Take Kip’s best friend, Elena Rygg (Nadine Bhabha), who sports a vibrant red Xscape gown during the gala scene and a pink-and-orange striped puffer coat by Danish brand Sittingsuits at the rink. “We had really great outfits on her,” said Puley. 

“One of things that I wish we could’ve had a little bit more time with was the Kip world,” she added. “I’m hoping with Season 2 we’ll be able to play with that a bit more.”

Shane’s Team Canada fleece

Lastly, a moment for Shane’s white Team Canada jacket. It features in Episode 2 and has been drawing loads of attention recently, with fans creating their own versions and many even petitioning for Team Canada to produce it. 

Puley had comfort in mind when designing the piece, which ended up being a minimalist white zip-up fleece emblazoned with red maple leaves on each arm and “Canada” on the back.

This is in contrast to most Olympic uniforms, which she says often feel inaccessible and too avant-garde for the average person.

“I wanted to make something that just felt super Canadian and simple and straightforward,” she said. “Something that felt like you would want to put it on.”