Michele Clapton is perhaps best known for designing the striking costumes for HBO's cult TV show Game of Thrones which won her an Emmy. She's also won a BAFTA for the costumes on Channel 4's The Devil's Whore starring Dominic West, and has now teamed up with BalletLorent for their forthcoming production of Rapunzel. Michele took a few minutes between takes on the set of her latest project to chat awards, fashion houses and the demand for a Game of Thrones high street collection...

Katie Antoniou: I suppose Rapunzel and all fairytales come under the category of fantasy, so like Game of Thrones, they aren't set in a definite period- does this freedom make it harder or easier to create a cohesive body of costumes?

Michele Clapton: For me it's enormously exciting to create these fantasy worlds. At the moment I really like the challenge of grounding them, giving them a reality that makes sense on some level, yet on another to have such freedom. I think you always need a set of rules as a sort of armature on which you can then build your creative images!!

KA: What was it like designing for a ballet- how far did the need to take into consideration the dancers' movements limit what costumes you could create?

MC: I hadn't worked in Dance for many years (performing clothes for  ICA and Yolanda Snaith) so I had to re-learn the restrictions. What I found so interesting working with Liv was that she and the dancers embraced some of my ideas which were restrictive and evolved them into the piece. The other consideration that is obviously so different is that in film you can say so much in the details, a tiny earring can appear huge on screen and is relevant. I had to adjust my sense of scale so as to project the ideas out to the audience. Its a shout not a whisper!

KA:You won a BAFTA for the costumes in Channel 4's The Devil's Whore set during the civil war. What's your research process like when you're creating costumes for a definite era- when it's possible to actually get things 'wrong'?

MC: I research extensively, through paintings of the time and written references, although paintings are subjective, stylised by the painter often to please the sitter. The way that I tend to work is to take the date and look back 50 years, and incorporate these all in the costume landscape. Clothes for the poor would be handed down from one generation to the next, and absolutely not everyone is in the fashion of the day! It is important to respect colours available at the time. With all this in place I then try to characterise the costumes, to make them real clothes worn by real people.

KA: Huge congratulations on winning a well deserved Emmy for 'Outstanding Costumes for a Series' for Game of Thrones. What advice would you give to people starting out in costume design? Do you feel like you've 'made it' or do you still have unachieved goals?

MC: It was great to win the Emmy, but of course the desire to do better and be involved in more projects is always there. There are many ways into being a costume designer, sometimes when starting out its hard work to get people to initially take a chance on you, unfortunately as with most careers there is a degree of luck involved in how far you get.

KA: The Game of Thrones wardrobe encompasses so many types of costume- were you already an expert on working with leather and furs? What about metalwork for the armour? It seems such a broad spectrum of highly specialised skills to have!

MC: None of us can be an expert in all areas but this is where your choice of team come in. To engage with skilled artisans is one of my great joys. If they are open and excited by a project it can be a very rewarding experience for both parties. I find it fascinating to push the boundaries, to challenge the way people think something should be done, to allow experimentation.

KA: How long does it take to create one costume from start to finish- say a dress for Cersei?

MC: That is such a difficult question as there might be a lot of people involved. The design followed by discussions with the cutter who will make a toile to fit the actor to see how it works, the pattern is then adjusted and fabric which may have been dyed and printed is cut and handed to the maker, we will then often have another two fittings if it is a complex costume, and at any stage we may involve the the ageing process, the embroiderer, and the armorer.

KA: They say never work with children or animals, and there are plenty of both in Game Of Thrones- how has it been working with them?

MC: We are incredibly lucky on Game of Thrones all the children are wonderful and down to earth. The horses are well schooled and film friendly, but still we are always careful around them.

KA: A number of designers seem to have been influenced by your work (Helmut Lang openly admitted that his 2012 Fall collection was inspired by the Game of Thrones costumes, but other brands like Givenchy seem to have been too), this must be very flattering for you- and exciting for those of us who think mainstream fashion needs a healthy injection of fantasy! I remember interviewing Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant a few years ago when the high street was filling up with vintage replicas and I think she ended up doing a line for Banana Republic. Would you ever consider doing that sort of collaboration for those of us with Dothraki fantasies? Daenerys' wedding dress was particularly stunning- have you been inundated with brides-to-be asking you to re-create it for them?

MC: I would love to design a range of Game Of Thrones inspired clothes, not sure when I would have time!But my background was in Fashion. Of course it's flattering to be referenced by these great fashion houses, although they still wouldn't lend me a dress for the Emmys- how ungrateful!! I wish sometimes that the British fashion press covered the success of British costume designers more- we are doing incredibly well in Film; winning the Emmys and Oscars and as you say, costumes are a huge influence on Fashion.

KA: Are you basically busy with Game of Thrones now for as long as it runs? How did you even manage to fit in Rapunzel and a feature film (Blood, 2012)?

MC: I have agreed to design the next season, let's see after that! I thrive on keeping busy and challenged and love variety in my work. I have just started filming a contemporary film called 'Before I Go to Sleep' directed by Rowan Joffe with Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth in the lead roles...... Then back to Game Of Thrones and a new piece for Ballet Lorent.

See BalletLorent's Rapunzel at Sadler's Wells on 29th March. Season 3 of Game of Thrones airs in the UK on Sky Atlantic on 1st April.