Ms. Hawley, the blue dress you designed for Mia Goth’s character Elizabeth in Frankenstein is quickly becoming one of those iconic film costumes — it’s even being recreated on social media. How is it when your work takes on this big life outside of the film?
It’s so funny because you never start out going, “I’m going to design something iconic.” But the blue dress is one of those pieces that’s not just something pretty to wear, it’s something that audiences became very emotionally involved in. They talked about the feeling that the clothes created for them, the emotions. And that’s how it felt to make it. It was an emotional journey, and it was an emotional response as much as anything. I think the fact that people responded to it… That was the intention when we went in. We spent so long trying to find that alchemy, because that’s the journey we’re all on, whether you’re a painter, a filmmaker, a costume designer… You’re chasing that magic. And the blue dress was an example of that.
There are so many elements that come together to make it work. The dress, the necklace, the feather headpiece, the fan… Plus the energy that Mia Goth brings to the role.
Absolutely, Mia really brought that special quality. She’s got such beautifully soft features, so we did worry it might overwhelm her, but you can never underestimate a performer like Mia. She’s transcendent, she really made everything work. One of the most important parts of it all is how your actor brings things to life. And we were lucky in Frankenstein, and especially with Mia and her work, she really found her own unique way to capture the beautiful, fleeting language. It captured all the thematic elements that the director, Guillermo del Toro, had in mind: religion, nature, theology, anatomy, the dream-like quality, the ephemeral stuff…
“You have to be aware of the language your director is creating and what they’re trying to say. The script, the pace, all of that informs you.”
It’s just one of many extremely special costume moments in the film. My personal favorite is a scene early on where we meet Victor’s mother on the steps wearing a red dress and veil.
That scene with the red veil really establishes Guillermo’s visual language. We’re seeing the film from Victor’s point of view, these are his memories, so in that moment we’re establishing Victor’s childhood, it’s stripped down to black, red, and white. It’s an almost operatic language, it has such melodrama, you know, this visceral feeling of blood that is then echoed in the bloody handprint on Victor’s vest. And all of that is choreographed! Every element is discussed between all the departments, so that the color story is something really embedded in the structure of the film.
You mentioned that operatic language — you actually started out as a costume designer for opera and theater, does that experience lend itself to your work in film?
It’s a common link, yes. The fact that I worked in opera and theater is something that drew Guillermo to me when we worked on Crimson Peak several years ago. I’ve always been very in tune with color and with the nature of breakdown and aging costumes — you know, maybe a character has a bullet wound or some elemental stuff has happened to him, they’re in the snow, the rain. I love those elements and I was working in that way quite a bit with something like Edge of Tomorrow, for example.
Costume breakdown was a really clever part of a film like Suicide Squad, for example, the textures and finishes were, for me, more interesting than the color story.
Yes, you’re right, and that was because we were in sort of gangster world, prisons, this continual state of action. The language of those characters is a sort of disintegration in itself. And you know Harley Quinn’s journey does include color, red and blue, but the breakdown was also something special. There’s a scene in the rain where she’s on the car and crying, and so we bled all the colors in her outfit and it really mirrored the disintegration of her character. When you’re dealing with these quite larger than life characters and this film with a ton of action, you can punch your moments just a little bit higher, you know? You have to be aware of the language your director is creating and what they’re trying to say. The script, the pace, all of that informs you. I always try to serve the text and serve the director.
“What is the world that this character is walking in? Have we addressed that in every aspect of the process?”
What about the actor? Are you also serving them?
I think you weave it all in: you observe them, see how they move. If an actor contributes a note, I try to really pay attention to that because they’re discovering their character. It’s all a contribution. I can’t just go in and impose something on an actor. I might be making a decision for my self regarding what we need to do for costume, but everyone else needs to do the same because that’s how it develops. So for me, the hair and makeup also need to be there in order to understand where each piece is going or even to spur another source of inspiration for them, or answer a problem that they’re solving. Nothing’s finished until all those elements come together. All those elements feed together to help create the overall image. That’s why I’m always going, “What is the world that this character is walking in? Have we addressed that in every aspect of the process?”
It sounds like there’s not really a moment of: “Okay, my work here is done,” for you as a costume designer.
Oh, it never is. Things change, there might be a script change… You’re constructing it, editing it every step of the way, but then the director might turn around and say, “That doesn’t work anymore. What else have we got? Let’s find something else.” That’s also why you have to know the language, you have to know the story that the director is trying to tell so that you can adapt. It’s also about not being an island! You have to be there at rehearsals and find every opportunity you can to be involved so that you’re constantly building. That’s the beauty of humans as creatives working together. It’s the push and pull. Things that can feel restrictive can also be moments of absolute opportunity.
It seems like making costumes is a deeply thrilling creative challenge for you.
I mean, I’ve got a bloody important job to do and I love that. I love every element of filmmaking because we are all contained within that world, so what one person does affects the other. And I find that really exciting to be part of that process. So I do love to help craft the world that we’re creating, the tone and the language… I love it.