Kate Hawley's Gothic Masterpiece: Inside the 'Frankenstein' Costume Design
Why Kate Hawley’s costumes are Oscar-worthy.
As a classic gothic banger, Frankenstein is more than just a film, it’s a goldmine for fashion creators. Olivier Theyskens pulled straight from the Creature’s patchwork, slapping raw, unfiltered stitchwork into his 1999 drop that was later worn by Madonna. Prada went even harder, converting the Creature’s silhouette into prints and turning gothic aesthetics into runway pieces. With Guillermo del Toro’s Netflix rendition reviving Mary Shelley’s 1818 gothic classic, the costumes are another must-see. del Toro tapped legendary designer Kate Hawley to bring his vision to life — the same genius who made Harley Quinn’s iconic pink-and-blue look, which is still a top-tier flex in superhero street style. Her custom pieces for the new Frankenstein are about to dominate the award season.
Hawley and del Toro determined their core idea from day one, “When I think of Victorian, it’s very hard not to think of Oliver Twist or Little Dorrit. But this is Frankenstein. It has that Germanic kind of backdrop. There’s the early romantic sensibility, There’s the big scale of imagery of religion, God’s place in it mixed with mythology. And then there’s this feeling of nature and all those elements of melancholy, that sense of memories that creates a dreamlike world.” Hawley told Harper’s Bazaar.
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Netflix
Netflix
Netflix
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Victor Frankenstein’s costumes serve as a visual roadmap, tracing ambition that spirals into madness. The inspiration of Victor’s looks are from rock superstar Mick Jagger, who has the same passion for the stage as Victor has for his creation. When Oscar Isaac’s scientist first appears on screen, he is in a sophisticated dark brown velvet suit with immaculate tailoring. The sharp lines and delicate fabric not only echo his aristocratic origins, but also mirror his obsessive pursuit of perfection. However, as his experiment spirals out of control, his attire gradually sheds its sense of order: the understated elegance of his formal wear is replaced by garments with loose silhouettes. Crooked collars, unsmoothed creases, and frayed edges lay bare the collapse of rational order in his psyche. Hawley’s design brilliance lies in making costumes a second skin for the characters. Victor’s wardrobe transitions from opulent and structured to tattered and dishevelled, while Jacob Elordi’s the Creature evolves from fragmented to relatively whole. These two diametrically opposed evolutionary paths aptly echo the film’s core theme.
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In this visual narrative, red stands as a consistent central symbolic thread. Perfect examples include the red veil worn by Victor’s mother, Claire, and her blood-stained hand turning into blood marks on Victor’s back which eventually transforms into the red gloves he wears later. The ultimate resonance of this crimson hue falls on Elizabeth’s white wedding dress, when she meets her end in Victor’s world, red blood stains seep into the pure white fabric, bringing the film’s colour palette circles back to its origin.
Netflix/Culture
Netflix/Culture
In the gothic narrative of Frankenstein, Elizabeth, portrayed by Mia Goth, emerges as a radiant embodiment of natural poetry. Her costumes are consistently woven with botanical and insect motifs, a deliberate echo of the character’s profound love for nature, while Tiffany & Co. jewellery serves as the crowning touch. “When I was working with Tiffany’s in the archives, I was looking at lots of crosses, but in the end, we designed one where I was sort of Frankenstein-ing an archival cross with [Tiffany’s jewellery designer] Meta Overbeck’s Scarab necklace, which you see Elizabeth wearing in the blue form” Hawley said in the interview. Paired with the scarab necklace is a coordinating off-the-shoulder gown with black lace trim, a look widely regarded as a tribute to Shelley herself. Particularly striking is Goth’s upswept hairstyle that frames her face and covers her ears, a style immensely popular in the 19th century and immortalized in Shelley’s portraits.
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Among all of Elizabeth’s costumes, her wedding dress stands out as the most visually stunning and thematically resonant. In the interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Hawley recounted her creating process with del Toro “At the beginning when Guillermo said Victorian, I pulled out a hell of a lot of Victorian dresses and he went, ‘No, I hate it.’ Then you’re going, Yes, of course he hates it. It’s Guillermo’s world. I’ve got to give him a bride of Frankenstein. So that was one of the first images of Elizabeth that I did. To get there, we understood that, at that point in the story, we are reflecting the Creature’s story and we’re in the fairytale. And just as Mia’s character reflected Victor’s childhood and his mother’s obsession, when we are here, she becomes the Creature’s bride”. That realisation became the cornerstone of her vision for Elizabeth. Layered ivory fabrics wrap around her body like surgical bandages, creating a subtle parallel with the Creature. The bodice draws inspiration from historical Swiss ribbon corsets, grounding the design in the film’s Victorian setting while evoking the legacy of Bride of Frankenstein. The flowing ribbon details further echo the bandages that adorn the Creature. Composed layers of fabric, the gown unfolds to reveal textures reminiscent of exposed flesh. Hawley’s team intentionally exposed the inner structure, while the outer layer is crafted from ultra-sheer organza, creating a X-ray effect, all tailoring details lie hidden within the ethereal fabric, only fully revealed when stained with blood, transforming the gown into a symbolic anatomical specimen.
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In Hawley’s design, Elizabeth has evolved beyond merely being a reflection of Victor’s childhood memories — she has become a soulmate bound to the Creature by fate. The collision of the film’s gothic aesthetics with Tiffany’s craftsmanship results in a seamless fusion of gemstone brilliance and fabric texture. This blend preserves the historical essence of the 19th century while infusing the character with contemporary resonance through modern design language. Together, the Tiffany jewellery and costumes fulfil a crucial narrative role. It is in the interplay of stitches and gemstones that the most touching essence of the film’s costume art resides.
