How “The Batman” Batsuit Designers Went Lean & Mean

Outside of The Batman writer/director Matt Reeves (who co-wrote the script with Peter Craig), Glyn Dillon and David Crossman probably have The Batman‘s coolest credits attached to their names. Both share the title of Batsuit costume designers, with Dillon serving as chief concept artist and Crossman the costume supervisor. In terms of superhero icons, it doesn’t get much better than designing the Caped Crusader, and the tandem created a unique silhouette for a younger Bruce Wayne,

“Winning Time” Costume Designer Emma Potter on Making Magic With the Lakers

Working on Max Borenstein and Jim Hecht’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty didn’t require an advanced degree in NBA fandom in general and Lakes lore specifically, yet a lot of the folks involved had both. Hecht himself is a lifelong Lakers fan, and writer Rodney Barnes has loved basketball his whole life, and everyone likes Magic Johnson. Yet, one of the key people who helped give Winning Time its period-perfect look admits she was neither a massive b-ball fan or a follower of the NBA.

“Inventing Anna” Costume Designer Lyn Paolo on Dressing a Cunning Chameleon

When Anna Sorokin, a Russian woman in her early twenties, landed in New York, she had little in the way of entry to the glitzy social world she hoped to break into — no wealth, few friends, and a single stint as an intern at Purple, a raunchy Paris fashion magazine. 

But as creator Shonda Rhimes swiftly demonstrates in Inventing Anna, Netflix’s nine-hour recounting of the fake German heiress Anna Delvey (Julia Garner) and the reporter who broke her story,

Oscar-Nominated “Cyrano” Costume Designer Massimo Cantini on a New Vision For a Timeless Tale

Cyrano (in theaters on February 25) boasts megawatt talent – notably, Peter Dinklage in the title role – but newly minted Oscar-nominee, costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini, may be the film’s secret weapon. Parrini has won a bundle of European awards, mostly for his work in his native Italy. He came to Hollywood’s attention in 2020 when he was nominated for an Oscar for his costumes for Pinocchio,

“Death on the Nile” Costume Designer Paco Delgado on Killer Cruise Wear

Costume designer Paco Delgado grew up on a tiny island off the coast of West Africa, where he cultivated a vivid eye for color, shape, and texture. That aesthetic, developed at Institut del Teatre of Barcelona, has served him well. In 2011 he collaborated with the famously meticulous director Pedro Almodóvar on BAFTA Award-winning The Skin I Live In. Delgado then earned Oscar nominations for Les Miserable and The Danish Girl.

“The Gilded Age” Cinematographer Manuel Billeter on Lighting Old Money & New

Set in New York in the 1880s, The Gilded Age isn’t so much a follow-up to Downton Abbey as an across-the-pond companion piece from creator Julian Fellowes. In what’s being oft-referred to as a ‘lavish epic’ up and down the internet, this new HBO series follows in the footsteps of Fellowes’ previous series, with a slickly-produced focus on all the ways the rich are not like you and me.

Costume Designer Justine Seymour on Subtle Power on Display in “Women of the Movement”

After his 1955 murder, Emmett Till’s death became a galvanizing event for the burgeoning Civil Rights movement. The mutilated 14-year-old was given an open casket funeral at the behest of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, who wished the world to see what Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam had done to her son. Lynched while on holiday to visit family in Money, Mississippi, after being falsely accused of whistling at a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, (Emmett had a stutter,

“Cowboy Bebop” Costume Designer Jane Holland on Creating a Jazzy Outlaw Look

How do you approach adapting the looks of a beloved Japanese anime series for a live-action Netflix series? This was the challenge for Cowboy Bebop costume designer Jane Holland, who managed to capture the glorious color of the original anime series about a crew of bounty hunters who will zealously pursue even the most dangerous criminals in the galaxy—if you’ve got the money—and do it all in the boldest of styles. Cowboy Bebop stars John Cho as the perenially sad bounty hunter Spike Spiegel,

“No Time To Die” Costume Designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb on Dressing Bond’s Allies & Adversaries

In part one of our conversation with No Time To Die costume designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb, we focused on the tall order of outfitting Daniel Craig for his fifth and final assignment as James Bond. In part two, we turn our attention to the allies and adversaries that populate Bond’s world, including two new agents, the love of his life, and a scarred sociopath who has designed a weapon that—spoiler alert—forces Bond to make the ultimate sacrifice. 

“No Time To Die” Costume Designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb on Building the Apex Tuxedo

“Before Daniel, the Bond style, which was always very definitive, was being worn by someone who was more of a superhero character,” says No Time To Die costume designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb about the tall order of outfitting Daniel Craig for his fifth and final assignment as James Bond. “We didn’t really get the emotional landscape. We got the look, we got the icon, but we didn’t delve that much deeper. Daniel is a consummate actor and I really felt this responsibly to be able to costume him in a way that would live up to that Bond stratosphere,

“Station Eleven” Costume Designer Helen Huang on a Post-Pandemic World Filled with Art & Humanity

In times of fear, great loss, and regression in civilized society, creativity and culture will still blossom. This is not only the hopeful message of Station Eleven but also a truth about our world, proven by the fact that the show exists at all. The production team for HBO’s post-pandemic miniseries was a few episodes in when life began to imitate art, and art began springing up everywhere.

“You think about our pandemic,

Best of 2021: Mixing History & Modernity in the Costumes of “The Harder They Fall”

This interview is part of our highly subjective, decidedly non-comprehensive “Best of 2021” year-end list. It was originally published on November 2.

The Harder They Fall, Netflix’s addition to the world of Westerns from director-writer Jeymes Samuel, is not a monochromatic throwback set on the dusty frontier. Honoring the names of historical characters like Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) and Stagecoach Mary (Zazie Beetz) while leaving most of their actual histories behind,

“The Power of the Dog” Costume Designer Kirsty Cameron on Highlighting Harsh Beauty

There’s a Japanese film from director Hirokazu Koreeda titled Shoplifters about a family that goes to great lengths in order to survive. It sneaks up on you and pulls you in such a profound way that by the end you’re left craving for more. It’s an extraordinary film that is brought together, in part, by the creativity of those behind-the-scenes who shaped a deep, realistic environment that allows viewers to comfortably sink into the world.

“Being the Ricardos” Costume Designer Susan Lyall on Capturing Lucy & Desi’s Many Lives

Being the Ricardos takes us back to the days of I Love Lucy for an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at its stars, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin and starring Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem as the iconic TV couple, the film delves into such sensitive subjects as Arnaz’s infidelity, Ball’s pregnancy, and the turmoil that ensues when columnist Walter Winchell alleges that Ball is a communist.

“Last Night in Soho” Costume Designer Odile Dicks-Mireaux’s Sinisterly Swinging Style

At the beginning of Edgar Wright’s thriller Last Night in Soho, budding fashion student Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) is living with her grandmother (Rita Tushingham) in Cornwall, wearing clothes she made herself and experiencing visions of her dead mother (Aimee Cassettari), a situation she and her grandmother seem to agree is just a part of who she is. But an acceptance to the London College of Fashion pulls her away to city life,

Mixing History & Modernity in the Costumes of “The Harder They Fall”

The Harder They Fall, Netflix’s addition to the world of Westerns from director-writer Jeymes Samuel, is not a monochromatic throwback set on the dusty frontier. Honoring the names of historical characters like Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) and Stagecoach Mary (Zazie Beetz) while leaving most of their actual histories behind, the film is centered around a complicated, fictional rivalry between two outlaw gangs seeking revenge and vying for control of a frontier town called Redwood.

Costume Designer Meghan Kasperlik on Capturing the Gritty Essence of “Mare of Easttown”

Costume designer Meghan Kasperlik did some serious fieldwork when she was preparing for HBO’s critical hit Mare of Easttown. One of her first research trips? To a Wawa in Coastville near where the series is set. The iconic chain is well known to residents of the greater Philadelphia area and southern New Jersey, and it proved an invaluable point of entry for Kasperlik to get a better sense of how the characters in Easttown would dress.

Dressing Icons and Con Men With “Genius: Aretha” and “Better Call Saul” Costume Designer Jennifer Bryan

Costume designer Jennifer Bryan can pivot from glamour to gaudy, from an icon to a con artist, without missing a beat—or a thread. Bryan’s work can currently be seen on National Geographic’s third season of Genius, which focused on the monumental career and legacy of Aretha Franklin (Cynthia Erivo).

Bryan’s now hard at work on a very different kind of show, trading in Aretha Franklin’s shimmering dresses (and profound decency) for the gaudy,

“Lovecraft Country” Costume Designer Dayna Pink’s Many Worlds of Fashion

Creator Misha Green‘s Lovecraft Country was one of the most startling, sumptuous series of 2020, and one of the big reasons why it looked so good was the work of costume designer Dayna Pink. Designing looks for everything from shoppers on Greenwood Avenue in 1921 Tulsa to soldiers during the Korean War to the Afrofutrisim of a multidimensional world set in space, Pink’s designs were integral to the success of Lovecraft Country.

“Halston” Costume Designer Jeriana San Juan on Channeling a Fashion Icon

Starring Ewan McGregor and produced by Ryan Murphy, the Netflix miniseries series Halston charts the rise and fall of the iconic American fashion designer, by way of the glitzy, glamorous, and cocaine-addled Studio 54-era New York. We talk to costume designer Jeriana San Juan about getting into Halston’s head to create the pivotal pieces and teaching Ewan McGregor the tricks of the trade.      

Halston’s director Daniel Minahan said recently the show “lives and dies by the clothing and the costumes.” How did you go about meeting that challenge?