Copyright theage
“I had been looking at paintings of angels and the circular motif that Guillermo uses throughout his architecture [brought to life by production designer Tamara Deverell] – he asks, when we start a project, that the costume reflects the architecture and the environment,” she says. “So you’ll see echoes with what we’re doing mirroring each other throughout, but that headdress is one of the first drawings I did.” Hawley employed the same X-ray technique to create Elizabeth’s wedding dress – her ode to Frankenstein’s Bride – worn moments before her tragic death. The gown, which would not look out of place on today’s haute couture runways, was made with a vintage 19th-century Swiss ribbon bodice, overlaid with silk organza. Featuring articulated ribs and bandaged ribbon arms, it’s reminiscent of early scenes of The Creature’s origin. “At that point in the process, she’s not in Victor’s world so much as she’s echoing the creature’s world. A lot of the work that we were doing was looking at the characters from the inside out,” says Hawley. Hawley, born in Wellington, got her start working on stage productions, crafting the clothes for Auckland Theatre Company, New Zealand Opera and the Royal New Zealand Ballet. Since transitioning to the screen, her CV has spanned projects across Hollywood film and television – mainly in the fantasy, science fiction and period realm – including Crimson Peak, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and Suicide Squad. Frankenstein is Hawley’s third project with Del Toro – or third-and-a-half, as she jokes, if you count The Hobbit, a film that was ultimately realised by Peter Jackson. As a Kiwi working in Hollywood, Hawley is part of a rich legacy of Australian and New Zealand costume designers, among them Orry Kelly, Catherine Martin, Lizzy Gardiner, Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor. So, what sets them apart? “All of them are very different, but they’re very self-assured and they’re not looking back towards Europe. They’re inventing their own language,” says Hawley. “I think it’s really exciting seeing that, and I think there’s just a hunger for it, you know we don’t get very many opportunities to play in that world.” Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is in cinemas now and streaming on Netflix from November 7.
