His characters have worn the Batman cape, sported a set of vampire fangs, and have become a bleach-blonde bank robber in the streets of New York, but in his latest role, Robert Pattinson’s costume is less about magical realism, and more about blending in.
The London-born actor’s current feature film is a dark romance titled The Drama, in which he and co-star Zendaya play engaged couple Charlie and Emma on the lead up to their big day. The pair endure shocking secrets, explosive fights and tense conversations, but punctuating all that, well, drama is the film’s wardrobe: Pattinson’s shell windbreaker and paraboots help craft this modern tale of the not-so-perfect relationship.
Katina Danabassis (whose credits include Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, Past Lives and Materialists, to name a few) is the costume designer behind A24’s newest movie. In an interview with Playboy, Danabassis took us inside her creative process, explaining how she uses clothes to make a character come to life. “The psyche of the character is what is guiding my whole process,” Danabassis says, calling the script her “Bible.” “He [Charlie] is a museum curator living in Boston, so I started doing research on real people who would work this job.”
Her research led her to ‘gorpcore’ — a fashion trend that incorporates outdoor hiking gear worn as streetwear. “I knew a good spot to land with his look would be the gorpy, classic, academic style paired with East-Coast simplicity. It was mostly about trying all the right combinations.” This is the inspiration behind Pattinson’s black windbreaker, typically layered atop a button down shirt. “He also wears paraboots which I thought was on trend,” Danabassis shares. “It’s a perfect shoe that a smart person would invest in, and they last forever.”
Danabassis found the perfect items by shopping locally. “The influence of Boston is very real,” she says. “Sourcing things locally is something that I love to do because it can’t be wrong if it is from the place. I would go and do a lot of thrifting. You’re getting that good, normal, human clothing direct from the source.” It appeared that Pattinson and his character Charlie’s English heritage influenced the costuming too. “I reached out to the brand ‘YMC’ and they were so gracious to help out and send clothes. I thought that was a good brand because of the English heritage that he has in his character.”
The Canadian-born designer believes that costuming is more than just creating a chic look. “The job for me as a costume designer is not just making beautiful things on screen. The pursuit of the costume designer is to help tell the story whilst also making it visually striking. Maybe the beauty is actually quite ugly. The beauty is hitting right on the nose of exactly what it is supposed to be,” Danabassis says. “It’s a well-threaded needle, pun intended I guess.” She equally expresses the significance of storytelling through the clothing. “I think when you go very character-centered, it depends on the story and the person. When they are playing a real human being that works at a museum, for example, it would be weird if he was wearing Hawaiian shirts,” she laughs.
To get that tone right, Danabassis thinks through bigger details like color palette (“it is very restrained and it plays into the austerity of academic and simple styling, as well as the Bostonian dress sense”), but she also uses wardrobe to communicate to viewers.
In a scene showing the couple’s dance rehearsal ahead of their wedding, Pattinson’s Charlie wears Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’ on a t-shirt—a thoughtful, withdrawn figure, often stuck in his own head (any guesses as to Charlie’s demeanor in the film?). More so, the shirt is an important clue to the inner turmoil that shapes Pattinson’s role. “I thought that it would be perfect to have him wearing that shirt before we get the reveal of the story,” Danabassis says. “I thought that was prescient and an interesting easter egg to indicate what he is going to have to be dealing with for the rest of the film.”
Timelessness was the heart of the costuming for The Drama and European cinema was a great inspiration toward Danabassis’ creative flair. “There were a couple of references that really sang and there were some characters from Michael Haneke films that worked well. It is really simple and understated dressing but it’s always classic and chic in its own way,” she says. Part of finding that balance is to make sure the clothing stands the test of time. “Nothing is going to look too dated and it doesn’t look out of time. It will always do well. You can see that in a lot of European cinema. You see timelessness that happens in costume design where it still looks great. I aim to do the same”.
There’s clearly no shortage of thought put into costuming for Danabassis, but her true craft is, to her, meant to be nearly imperceptible. “As seamless as the costumes can be, you want them to be an invisible hand,” she says. “I wanted the clothes to be quiet and on the nose in the right way. There’s always a little bit of offbeatness that creates the naturalism of life.”