IN CONVERSATION WITH KATE HAWLEY
interview TIMOTEJ LETONJA
words NATALIE-ANNE GAL
Kate Hawley has firmly established herself in the world of theatre and film for her exceptional work in costume and set design. With her artistic vision and unconventional eye for detail, she now brings her talents to the long-awaited Frankenstein movie, directed by Guillermo del Toro. Hawley shared insights into what such a large-scale production entails, the inspirations behind her designs, her collaboration with del Toro, and how her childhood love of dark and eerie fairy tales continues to influence her creative process.
image courtesy of NETFLIX
Kate Hawley at the London premiere of Frankenstein, left, 2025.I think the costumes are the first thing that truly captures our attention when watching this film, they’re so grand and detailed. When did you begin the preparation process and start making the first sketches?
I was working with the amazing Guy Davis, Mike Hill and Oscar Ciccione and with Guillermo Del Toro, of course. For a while it was just about the creature. Michael had already been working on different maquettes, creating the body and form. They were sort of playing with the ideas of the cell and images of the religious motifs. The creature was the first element.
The following September I started this mammoth sized project, while we had writer strikes in the middle of it. There were many elements to take into consideration: we're dealing with different time periods, very different locations – there was a huge amount of background work to be done. The silhouettes had to fit the overall visual language – the language of the ship, the language of the outpost, the language of Edinburgh and the high society – hugely different requirements.
It was challenging, everything had to be a unique silhouette – we were not only creating uniforms. We worked in Poland, Italy, Spain, we also had a workroom in Glasgow and in Toronto at one point. We had to consider scheduling, stock in each location, and practical elements to the filmmaking.
You have worked with Guillermo Del Toro on previous projects – how did this current collaboration feel like?
This is his passion project, so there's a pressure in that – we know it matters to him. As we work we keep reinventing and interpreting, there's the new discoveries as you go on. It was so exciting reading the script, exploring the layers of mythology, religion – there were many ideas that he brought into the script. I cried when I first read it, it was deeply moving but he also captured the essence of the novel. The melancholy and loneliness, he summed up all the imagery that we needed in the film.
I wanted to ask about the color palette of the costumes, was there a specific concept or emotional intention guiding those choices?
Guillermo loves red, it's the opposite of green on the colour wheel, we have often used it for symbological meaning. He calls it a “hungry colour”. It stands for blood, trauma, passion, love – many aspects of the story.
Mia was also a great canvas, such as Victor’s prints have many details included. We had to focus on lighting – how it is going to bring out colour. Guillermo also prefers the costumes to reflect the architecture of the set which was something to take into account.
image courtesy of NETFLIX
Kate Hawley with the cast at the London premiere of Frankenstein, 2025.
Could you tell us a bit more specifically about the costume for Jacob Elordi? How did his looks evolve or help define who he is in the story?
He could only be defined by how we define Victor… We had to work on both of them at the same time. So we actually started at the end of their story, they were reflections and opposites of each other.
In the end Victor became more like a creature. He'd lost a leg, gained a prosthetic, smashed up nose, and fur, he became more animal-like, and the creature became more noble, gained a voice. Jacob had so many iterations – I had a whole team just working on his clothes. We had to go through iterations of different explosions, damage – work together with the prosthetics team.
And finally, how did you first get into this world of costume design? It’s such a unique field, it’s not just about fashion or design, but storytelling, and I imagine it’s also quite competitive.
I loved the grim fairy tales – where there's blood everywhere and heels being chopped off. And I grew up in the world of opera, my father was an opera singer and I was surrounded by music. Art has always been a part of my world. One day when I was a teen, I was working backstage in the theatre, I'd been painting sets and someone said to me “you know you could do this as a real job”. Until that point it never occurred to me I could do that.
I love working in film, but I love crossing over disciplines between different mediums. Theatre can be extraordinarily cinematic, so I love constantly pushing language in that. I always run back to the theatre or opera since I have such a great and deep love for it.
