Captain Marvel’s costume designer on not giving the hero a sexier outfit

Superhero films are on a roll—and none more so than Captain Marvel, which is already one of the highest-grossing film of 2019. Part of the genre’s appeal—good vs evil fantasy aside—is the kick-ass costumes; see Ruth E Carter’s Oscar-winning Afro-futurist designs in Black Panther, and here, Sanja Milkovic Hays’ creations for Marvel’s first female-led film.

Known for her work on action and sci-fi movies including Star Trek Beyond and the The Fast and the Furious franchise, Hays was thrilled to join the Marvel family for the landmark film. “We want to see women on screen, especially women that are so strong and so powerful. I’m so happy to be part of this,” Hays tells Vogue.

Andy Park, Marvel Studios director of visual development, who previously helped shape the looks of Black Widow and the Wasp, created the initial designs for the modern Captain Marvel, the superhero mantle taken on by pilot Carol Danvers (played by Brie Larson) when she acquires special powers. Hays collaborated with Park to bring the costumes to life and transform the concept into functional garments.

This contemporary Captain Marvel represents the way female superheroes can, and should, look going forward—embracing their gender without being objectified or overtly sexualised. “Her suit is strong and super-heroic, but still very feminine,” explains Hays. “It was a conscious decision to not just make her a gorgeous, beautiful thing; but instead make her costume part of her attitude. She’s a girl with an attitude and rightfully so, she has nothing to prove. It’s a very modern concept for a female superhero. Hopefully a lot of young women can relate to that.”

Captain Marvel’s suit includes elements that could belong to any superhero, regardless of gender. Her iconic masked helmet for example, with its striking mohawk, is typically not something we’ve seen female superheroes wearing on-screen. She wears sturdy boots, rather than high heels, and there was never any discussion of having her wear a sexier outfit, closer to the comic book depictions, says Hays.

Larson wears two different super-suits in the film: a military-inspired blue, red and gold Starforce one-piece, created from synthetic “liquid leather”; and her Captain Marvel suit, made from leather backed with a stretchy fabric and moulded 3D elements. Hays and her team had about eight months to prepare ahead of filming, using life-sized models of the actors to help guide the process. Fitting Larson, however, proved to be a challenge as she got increasingly fit in training for the role, which meant continuous costume adjustments.

“She was working out like crazy—I’m so in awe of her,” says Hays. “Her body was changing, as expected, so she was coming in repeatedly for fittings. Over the course of working out she was finding out more and more what her action scenes were going to be, and so we were making sure what we were doing would allow her to do certain things.”

The look for alter-ego Carol Danvers is purposefully edgy, too. When she lands on earth and needs street clothes, she grabs baggy jeans, a Nine Inch Nails T-shirt and a flannel shirt, evoking classic Nineties grunge. Of the tee, Hays says she wanted an unassuming but spirited logo, to make a subtle statement: “It had to be period, but it had to be attractive to the audience today. She’s a pilot and a tomboy, so what would a young woman like that wear? And she’s a big rock‘n’roll girl. So, a combination of rock‘n’roll and grunge was obviously the way to go.” (The band is now selling a special edition Captain Marvel tee on their website.)

Beyond the aesthetic, the costumes needed to be functional too. “The hardest part was translating [Park’s vision] into a costume that can be worn,” says Hays. “Brie had to be able to do all the action scenes, running and jumping and spinning and fighting—all the crazy stuff you see on-screen. The costumes had to be comfortable enough to move in, but also look perfect when standing still. It’s a very, very specific geometry. We were moving things by half an inch here and half an inch there [to get it right].”  

Captain Marvel returns to help save the day in Avengers: Endgame.

Also read:

Here’s how Brie Larson trained to play Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel is already one of the most successful woman-led films ever

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