Exclusive: Frankenstein costume designer on ‘fever dream’ film – and ‘dedicated’ Jacob Elordi
Think of the story of Frankenstein and Mary Shelley’s terrifying monster immediately comes to mind. Yet in the director Guillermo del Toro’s new film adaptation of the novel, it’s the vivid dresses worn by the actress Mia Goth – who plays both the love interest Elizabeth Lavenza and the late mother of the monster’s creator, Victor Frankenstein – that steal every scene. The Emmy-nominated costume designer Kate Hawley is the mastermind behind the outfits, and for her, designing the costumes and selecting the accompanying Tiffany & Co jewelery for Guillermo’s “big passion project” has been a dream come true.
Kate first met the director 15 years ago, in her native New Zealand, through The Lord of the Rings producer and director Peter Jackson, and went on to work with Guillermo on his hit films Crimson Peak and Pacific Rim. “He’s such a wonderful, deeply knowledgeable person to work with, and he’s an artist first and foremost,” Kate tells HELLO! in this exclusive interview at the Corinthia London hotel. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime moment. It was Guillermo’s massive fever dream and his lifelong project. That doesn’t happen very often, that you’re getting to work on someone’s big piece.”
Based on the 1818 Gothic novel by the British author, the film is set in the 1830s and 1850s, and Kate explains how the vibrant hues of Mia’s costumes pay homage to the Victorians’ love of colourful clothing, as well as the author’s interest in nature. “Guillermo was always clear about colour,” Kate says, telling us that they were inspired by the Hammer horror films, the Italian film-maker Mario Bava and the painter Caravaggio, whose work has “a deep, dark, romantic tone to it”.
Playing with colour
In her role as Victor’s mother, Mia wears a scarlet dress with a flowing veil as she welcomes her husband home with their young son. The colour theme continues with Mia’s first appearance as Elizabeth, where she meets Victor, played by Oscar Isaac, dressed in a beautiful blue gown, a feather headdress and a rare glass scarab necklace from the Tiffany & Co archive.
Official trailer for Netflix’s Frankenstein
“Guillermo wanted her to feel ephemeral”
© Kate HawleyKate Hawley’s sketch for Mia Goth’s blue dress
The choice of headdress ties in with the character’s portrayal as a “heavenly angel”, Kate says. “Guillermo wanted her to feel ephemeral, so we had saturated colour, but a lot of it was in those transparent fabrics. Then we layered patterns and things underneath.”
In the film, Victor is captivated by Elizabeth’s beauty and character, but she is married to his brother, William (played by Felix Kammerer). The choice of Mia to play both roles can be explained by Victor’s ongoing obsession with his mother, who died when he was a child. The situation is further complicated when Elizabeth later falls in love with Jacob Elordi’s “creature”, as Guillermo has called Frankenstein’s monster in the film.
© NetflixMia Goth wears a stunning red costume in the film
Illustrating a life
She also created outfits for the male characters. Oscar, who plays Victor, goes through quite the transformation in the film, as Kate puts it, “from someone young to old, beautiful to ugly”. She adds: “Oscar was a dream – wonderfully collaborative,” she adds. “It was a big dress-up box for Victor. His character came from an older ancestry, an aristocratic history, and yet he’s the artist of privilege, so we were looking a lot at Picasso and Francis Bacon.”
© Tiffany & CoThe Wade necklace from the Tiffany archives was worn by Mia Goth in the movie
And what was it like working with the heartthrob of the moment, Jacob Elordi?
“Jacob was a delight and really dedicated,” she says. “You had to respectfully give him space because that was a huge make-up process: ten hours in the chair. He’s working through the night getting that all on, then on set during the day – it’s a lot. I haven’t got nicer words to say about him and Oscar.”
© Kate HawleyKate Hawley’s red dress design
With such a stellar cast and look, it’s no surprise that Frankenstein is already being tipped for a Best Picture and Costume Design nominations at the Academy Awards next year.
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