Toronto’s largest and best-organized walk-in closet, rds, and the designers and artists on the roster at Rosemary Della Serra Agency are keeping the stars of film, television and commercials both in – and out – of fashion. . . whatever the script calls for.

Helmed by Rosemary Della Serra, the two companies operate as separate entities out of a large downtown warehouse. rds (which coincidentally stands for Representation, Design and Styling) provides clothing and accessories to film and commercial productions, while the Rosemary Della Serra Agency reps about 35 costume designers, wardrobe stylists, specialized hair and makeup artists, and art directors.

The rds warehouse contains more than 80,000 articles of clothing, from high-end contemporary wear such as Hugo Boss and Armani suits (which are kept in the ‘lock-up’ with the other pricey items) to athletic gear like football uniforms and boxing robes to frighteningly frilly bridesmaids dresses, with ‘a smattering’ of vintage clothing thrown in. Shoes, belts, hats, jewels, ties and pretty much any other accessory imaginable line the walls.

Della Serra’s costume collection includes exact replicas of The Wizard of Oz’s lion, tin man and scarecrow from an old Esso spot and bumblebee suits off the set of a Toyota shoot. She also acquired all the costumes from FX: The Series, as she says sci-fi costumes are expensive to reproduce.

When it comes to getting goods from retailers such as The Gap, Banana Republic and Harry Rosen, the stylists deal with a liaison, who Della Serra says is usually more than happy to let them take a selection of clothing for little or no money and later return what wasn’t used and pay for the rest.

However, the department stores, which wardrobe people depend on for their large selection of styles and sizes, are making things a little more difficult for those looking to outfit the stars.

‘A lot of us have talked to them about setting up a film liaison department like they have in the u.s. so there is one central location where we can shop for all this stuff, and instead of punching it through the register and having it show on the [store’s] books, just let us sign it out,’ says Della Serra.

‘They would be able to identify reputable stylists, they would get the sales, and the books would not go up and down showing massive sales one day and massive returns the next,’ she reasons.

rds, the rental facility, came into existence first, followed almost immediately by the agency. It was a natural progression, says Della Serra, who, during her days running the wardrobe department at The Partners’ Film Company, found herself constantly fielding calls from production houses asking her to recommend a good stylist.

The rental facility’s business is divided evenly between film and commercials, while on the agency side, about 20% of the work comes from film and 80% from commercials.

Recent features sporting fashions from the racks of rds include The Mighty, Pushing Tin and The Red Violin, and according to Della Serra, virtually every production currently shooting in the city is using her services to some extent.

To make sure she doesn’t miss out on any productions coming in from the u.s., Della Serra recently sent out a promo kit to production companies in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Although there are other rental facilities in the city, Della Serra says most specialize in a certain type of clothing while rds stocks a bit of everything, concentrating on the contemporary high end of the fashion spectrum.

As for expansion, Della Serra is investigating repping the clothing lines of her young designers to help them gain exposure both in and out of the film business. On the rental side, she is toying with the idea of providing on-site services such as embroidery and silk screening and the manufacture of hard-to-find items, like the nude-colored g-string underwear required for a recent shoot.