Daily Debate: Who Should the Costume Designer for the Zelda Movie Be?

So many different creative minds have to come together to make a successful film, particularly when adapting an existing franchise to the silver screen for the first time. The Zelda series is chock full of unique, beautiful, memorable costumes that feel both real and heightened. Capturing this style will take a keen eye, so who of the many talented costume designers in the film industry today would be up to the task? 

To start, it should be someone with experience making fantasy-style costumes. However, I ran into the problem of certain fantasy movies having dulled color schemes as many of them are going for a sense of realism. The Zelda series, on the other hand, is vibrant and since the movie is aiming to be more like a live-action Miyazaki (whose animated films use color dynamically), I cut out the costume designers for fantasy productions like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Witcher, and Game of Thrones in light of the rather muted color schemes. 

With that said, below is a shortlist– in no particular order– of costume designers I think could do the trick for our much anticipated Zelda movie (note: this is strictly related to costumes, not make-up or special effects, so I did not look into creature-features or VFX teams).

Paul Tazewell – Wicked (2024)

When I think of vibrant colors in movies, I think The Wizard of Oz. Unfortunately, the costumer designer for the 1939 film, Adrian Adolph Greenberg, passed away in 1959. Luckily, though, there are many other wonderful works inspired by the film and original book. The Wicked musical is one of these, and the costumes by Tazewell for the upcoming movie adaptation look stunning. Tazewell also designed the costumes for Hamilton, West Side Story (2021), and The Wiz Live!. This kind of creative whimsy could definitely work for the Zelda movie. (A quick shout-out is also due to Susan Hilferty, the costume designer for many of the stage productions of Wicked.)

Trisha Biggar – Emerald City

Speaking of Oz-inspired content, there was a show called Emerald City from 2017 that has some fantastic costuming. While I haven’t seen the show, the costumes are colorful, but grounded so Biggar could be a perfect fit as costume designer for the Zelda movie. Biggar is also known for the Star Wars prequels and DaVinci’s Demons.

Judiana Makovsky – The Hunger Games

Designing the costumes for The Hunger Games requires some range: from District 12 common clothes, to the Tributes’ uniforms for the games, to the fashion of the zany denizens of the Capitol. It is the latter that came to mind for this list as their outfits are packed with color and hearken back to the aristocracies of old. That fashion reminds me of the look of the citizens of Castle Town in Twilight Princess. Makovsky is also known for her work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Bernadette Croft – Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 

Speaking of range, designing costumes for a Star Trek show requires a lot of it. You have to dress members of Starfleet as well as a host of aliens in a diplomatic capacity or just on their planets. We know Croft can do fantasy because of the Strange New Worlds season one episode “The Elysian Kingdom.” I mean, just look at those beautiful outfits. Croft is also known for Star Trek: Discovery and Ginny & Georgia.

Ruth E. Carter – Black Panther (2018)

Carter did not shy away from bold colors in her costume design for Black Panther and proved her ingenuity in designing afro-futuristic clothes that faithfully modernized historic African fashion. That kind of adaptive skill could successfully transition Zelda‘s in-game fashion into live-action. Carter is also known for her work on Do the Right Thing, Dolemite Is My Name, Coming 2 America, and more.

Ellen Mirojnick – Bridgerton

Again, fantasy fashion tends to be inspired by the aristocratic societies from European history, and Bridgerton’s fashion is similarly inspired. Color and variety are the name of the game here, so Mirojnick could likely make the fantastical fashion in Zelda a reality. Mirojnick is also known for her work on Oppenheimer, Showgirls, The Greatest Showman, and more.

Honorable Mention: Eiko Ishioka

She would have been my top choice, but she passed away in 2012. She was known most for her costume design work on 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but I particularly love her work on the costumes for 2006’s The Fall.

What do you think of these choices? Are there any other costume designers whose hats you would throw into the ring? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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