As costume designer for Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, it’s fair to say that Lindy Hemmings knows how to dress her superheroes to impress. With five James Bond movies, two Tomb Raiders and an Oscar for Topsy-Turvy on her CV, it was a treat to talk to her at the launch of the DC Exhibition: Dawn of Super Heroes at London’s O2. Nick Joy donned the spandex to find out what makes the ultimate super hero costume.

Lindy, this is a fantastic gallery devoted to Wonder Woman. Over here we have your fantastic designs for the movie, and in the display case are Donald Lee Feld’s costumes for the 1970s Lynda Carter TV series. Can you even imagine designing costumes like that?

If somebody was doing a study of costumes throughout history, you’d look at all of the Victorian costumes as portrayed in the 1950s and you’d be able to analyse why they looked completely different from the way we recreate Victorian costumes today, and it’s the same with superheroes. They made these costumes with the technical ability that they had at the time, and the expectation of what people wanted to see wasn’t the same as it has become now. Nowadays, fans and people who watch films expect a highly technological method to be employed in the creation of the superhero costumes; they expect to believe that the costume is believable in the world that the character lives in.

[Peers in to the vintage Wonder Woman costume]. This, to me, was just a fantasy costume – and people accepted it. Whereas nowadays people want to believe in what they see. I know it’s still a fantasy, but with the technology that we now have – the advances militarily and fabric-wise – people expect something to be up-to-date.

Does the use of 4K HD present any challenges for you beyond the need for greater detail?

I haven’t a clue what 4K is! (Laughs)

I mean that because the camera records a higher resolution image you can’t get away with an errant stitch in the way old cameras would be more forgiving.

That would always be the case for me – you shouldn’t be having any errant stitches at any resolution. But I think that because people can pause the picture and examine the texture of everything much more now, and explore things more visually, we need to be aware of this. In the past, designers themselves weren’t that interested in talking about it, but there’s an extra mental layer that kids have now when they they look at something. They are questioning, and expecting to see something new and advanced.

What to you makes a super superhero costume? What are the key qualities?

Myself, I want the character to be believable within the story. You can’t say that Batman in his Batsuit is a real person, but I like to push it, to help make it believable. With the Batsuit I was researching all kinds of technology: military technology, newly-available fabrics, methods of construction. I’ve told everyone this, but my inspiration in the beginning [for Batman Begins] was a Nike running shoe, because I was trying to think how to do something different with that Batsuit. I looked at the shoe and thought ‘Everyone has layered technology now – every layer of the shoe is for a different function’, and so between that and reading about the way that military and motorbike under-armour was developed, I kind of combined the whole thing together. I tried to make a new Batsuit that used those technologies and would look more believable as something someone would don in order to go on the kind of adventures he does.

Same rules for Wonder Woman?

Wonder Woman is a bit different because her suit does derive from a different, specific kind of world and you can’t suddenly make her completely different. Michael Wilkinson (costume designer on Batman Vs Superman) will have been thinking how to make believable armour while also looking at how it’s been portrayed in the comics.

These creations around us are all your children, so to speak, but can you single out a favourite that you’re most proud of?

I don’t know. I love them all. I love the Amazons’ armour… I was really really pleased with Gal Gadot’s blue dress [when she went under cover as Diana Prince in Wonder Woman] with the sword down her back. It took us a really long time to design that and get it made. It was created from the thinnest silk. I like all of my costumes… though there’s some that don’t work so well!

 

The DC Exhibition runs from 23rd February to 9 September 2018. To book tickets, visit www.DCExhibition.co.uk

Read our review here