Costume designer Alexandra Byrne has become something of a legend in the field of making period costumes, with a little something extra, which has actually aided her a great deal in the designing of superhero costumes for such films as THOR, both AVENGERS films, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and now DOCTOR STRANGE (due November 4).
She began her career doing costume and set design in the British theater in the 1980s, which transitioned into television and eventually film, beginning with the Jane Austen adaptation PERSUATION, Kenneth Branagh’s HAMLET (which resulted in her first of four Oscar nominations), ELIZABETH (her second), FINDING NEVERLAND (her third), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, SLEUTH, 300: RISE OF THE EMPIRE, and ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE, for which she finally won an Oscar for her costuming work.
She’s particularly known for knowing exactly how to make fabric drape and flow exactly right, and it’s no surprise that she’s designed the outfits for many of the Marvel heroes and villains who wear capes or cloaks—Thor, Loki, Vision, and Doctor Strange. A group of online writers got a chance to sit down with Byrne back in early February on the London-area set of DOCTOR STRANGE, surrounded by many of her creations for the film, including Strange’s complete costume. Please enjoy our talk with Alexandra Byrne…
Question: Kevin Feige said that we need to ask you about the cloak.
Alexandra Byrne: Yeah, I thanked him for that.
Question: Doctor Strange has a cloak that we’re all very familiar with from the comics, and transforming that into something cinematic must have been an interesting challenge. Can you talk about creating that cloak?
AB: Yes, that was a big challenge. It’s amazing in the comic book and, obviously, we have practical limitations. The collar in the comic is enormous, and if you had something that big, you’d never see your actor’s face [Everybody laughs]. It’s about getting the spirit and, for want of another word, the magic to be entranced by the cloak. The cloak is sentient, so it has its own character. You want something that has an amazing sense of history, antiquity and that is a relic in itself. It’s a mixture of drawing and building on the body. You can draw a lot, but it’s ultimately the drape of a fabric that is going to dictate how the cloak works.
We tend to attack it on two fronts. Then, really the feel I wanted is that you learn more about the cloak the more you saw it. Obviously, there’s a color palette within the comics. I think red and gold has an immense amount of baggage that isn’t helpful to this particular film, so I decided to keep it basically monochrome because that the detail is all there. As you go more into closeup, you gain more from the cloak. The big challenge was the idea of asymmetry, whether that’s just me asking, “What can be different about this cloak?”, it had a good feel to it. In order to achieve that, it has a semi-tailored shoulder on one side, which is a whole new game that I had never tackled. I won’t call it a graveyard, but we certainly have a rail of prototypes, all of which taught us something. It really is about working with the fabric and the processes. Every time you add something else to the cloak, it changes the weight, the balance, and the behavior.
Question: How many prototypes did you go through before landing at this final design?
AB: Well, some of them never quite made it to being fully realized. You go, “No, that doesn’t work” or “Yes, that does work.” Probably half a dozen, but more tabletops and ideas, practice versions. The fabric, the wool that it’s made from came from Japan. I go to a textile fair in Paris called Premiere Vision where they launch all the new fabrics. Nothing is made in sample length, so if you choose something, you have to commission it. It’s quite hard making a decision about something as big as the cloak from a hank of thread that you think is going to be 90 meters woven, or whether the two colors work together. That was quite a gamble, but it worked. The deadlines of waiting for the fabric to arrive are quite scary.
Question: Are you going the cloak’s powers practically?
AB: It’s a mixture.
Question: The design of the other sorcerers, I see unified elements, but each has unique colors and their own individual flairs. How do you go about creating a look that says they are all from one line of training but they all have their own personalities.
AB: Basically, it’s about creating the whole Kamar-Taj and the whole structure within the training academy, where you have the different levels. You have novice, apprentice, and disciple, and then the masters about that. Obviously, you want the masters to have their individuality and character. There’s a increasing individuality as you move up through the school. But it’s all grounded in the ethos of the Kamar-Taj.
I always say the comic book is the reference that you come back to every time.And I do very eclectic mood boards with ideas and images that have to do with a character or story point. It’s a bit like spinning plates. You gradually distill your ideas. Certainly since the first THOR, which was my first ever with Marvel, it was all about “What is this Marvel universe?” I’ve learned a lot. I think that kind of world becomes embedded in you. A lot of it is quite instinctive. People ask, “How do you arrive there?” Sometimes, I look at the costumes that we delivered and ask myself, “How did you get there?” because you can’t just go from A to B. It’s a journey of evolution.
Question: There’s what looks like brass knuckles on the belts. What is that?
AB: Am I allowed to talk about that?
Question: Is that top secret?
AB: It might be. I think it’s a wait and see. I might be spoiling things if I told you about those.
Question: How long did it take to fabricate the cloak in its final form?
AB: In it’s final form, once everything is decided, it’s about five days. But that’s with quite a lot of people working on it, a lot of departments. We have stitchers, embroiderers, leather workers, cutters, textile—because all the lining is printed, dyed and over-dyed. There are happy accidents in there that then become part of how it’s made. It’s a very organic process. There are things that you intend to do and other things that you learn on the way. Then other things were you go, “Oh, that works!” That was Thor’s cloak in the first place, when the pleats all fell into place in the back, that was very much a draping exercise, and we went, “Just stop there.”
Question: I assume the Strange costume has to do multiple things. Do you design one that does everything or are there lots of variations?
AB: It’s basically one. Otherwise, I don’t think you would believe that it’s his clothing if it keeps changing drastically. There are different versions, because you’ve got to accommodate harnesses and things like that, but intentionally we tailor and alter them so they always look the same. There are some differences, but not really.
Question: Is there a significance to the patterns in the lining of the cloak?
AB: No, that was purely designed. It’s about ancient history, really. The design pattern is the embroidery on the chest of the Strange tunic, which is based on the comic book logo. I wanted to pay respect to the comic book, so we developed this idea of embroidery and symbols within the Kamar-Taj. But again, like the cloak, I wanted it to be something you learn more about as you look at it close up.
Question: Before he’s in the iconic outfit, how does Strange the neurosurgeon approach getting the costume?
AB: He goes to Kamar-Taj to learn and he progresses through the ranks.
Question: But it’s still very odd to him?
AB: Oh, yes. There’s actually quite a big story about him and the cloak.
Question: When you’re designing for a uniquely visual character like The Ancient One and a uniquely visual actress like Tilda Swinton, how much are you designing with her in mind in playing off of her look?
AB: Usually when you start the characters, the first thing is the script. Your design work is about telling the story. Then casting comes into play, and that’s a huge component. I work quite organically with the actors. It’s about their scale, their proportion, their movement and their coloring. You couldn’t put some colors on some people or particular shades of colors, so casting is a huge component.
Question: We’re hearing that she’s a Celtic sorceress. Is any of that informing the costume design?
AB: I wouldn’t say it’s a huge influence. It certainly plays in there. I think all these characters and costumes evolve. You try to set up contradictions and juxtapositions, so it’s combined information. It’s not just one nail on the head.
Question: Are you drawing from specific cultures in the designs, or are you going for a larger picture?
AB: I’m going for a larger picture. Like I said, I do these mood boards. After a while, you’ve lived so long with these ideas that they distill more and more that it is spinning plates. You’re picking things and balancing them. You’re mixing ideas so that it’s true to the story of the comic, as well as the story we’re trying to tell.
[It is revealed that she’s allowed to discuss the elements on the belts that were asked about earlier.]
AB: They are Sling Rings. They are part of the equipment that you gain through the Kamar-Taj once you proceed past a certain level. I’ll let someone else talk about what they do. [We learned later that they aide the sorcerers in opening portals.]
Question: Did you design each individually? They’re each different.
AB: Yeah.
Question: Do they reveal something different about each of the characters?
AB: Yes. You can see me panicking.
Question: Can you talk about how you’re using color and fabric to inform specific characters?
AB: Yeah. I use color very instinctively, and actually, I only realized that when I was doing GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. Everyone had different skin colors, and I spent six weeks just paralyzed about what color to put people in, because I wasn’t working with skin tone anymore. I think color, for a costume designer, is one of your biggest storytelling devices. You’re pulling focus and playing with composition with color. The main inspiration for how I start to allocate color is what comes from the comics. That’s where it all starts from.
Question: How do you then shape those costumes to reflect who the character is in the movie?
AB: They’re both components. It’s like adding ingredients to a cake. It’s about balancing that. I would say that a lot of the practical decisions I make are in the fitting. They’re on the body and usually have to do with movement. In this film, I think silhouette is important, probably coming from that idea of the cloak.
Question: Obviously you’re designing this stuff for this movie, but you’re aware that these characters will appear elsewhere. Is there some fun aspect to designing the DOCTOR STRANGE costume knowing he’s going to be standing next to Iron Man at some point?
AB: No, I love that being someone else’s challenge [Everybody laughs]. I went through that on the first AVENGERS. I think the origin stories have to be true to themselves. You do them as best you can for that story. That is the big challenge, when the universe starts to come together and you ask, “How on earth does this work?” Good luck.
Question: You have the chance to do all of these wild designs, but then you’re also doing the mundane world and regular clothing. How much time do you spend on the more mundane stuff?
AB: In the fitting room, it’s as much time. But in the lead time, it’s much less time because you can go buy it. And you can buy options and choose what you like, and you do your fitting that way. But in this, you are going from scratch and building prototypes, and the lead time is much longer.
