It started, as many important tasks do for women, with a hair tie.
Because this wasreal, and fighting with hair covering your face isstupid.
ButBirds of Preydoesn’t fly alone in bucking the male gaze when it comes to styling its superhero characters.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Margot Robbie, Rosie Perez, Ella Jay Basco, and Jurnee Smollett-Bell in ‘Birds of Prey’.Claudette Barius/ © DC Comics
And that continued throughout the film.
Black Widowcostume designer Jany Temime tells EW that a lot of those decisions came straight from Johansson herself.
“Because that was her film, and she could choose,” Temime says.
Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff in ‘Black Widow’.Jay Maidment/Marvel Studios
“She doesn’t need to sell that.
And she was proud that she was able to accomplish that throughout the movie, for Natasha especially.
She knows what she is, she has such great value, she has great power.
Scarlett Johansson, David Harbour, and Florence Pugh in ‘Black Widow’.Jay Maidment/Marvel Studios
And she just wants to be comfortable in her own skin.”
That also meant any notion of putting her in high heels was nixed from the very beginning.
“Actually, she refused to wear heels,” Temime says of Johansson.
Sophia Di Martino and Tom Hiddleston in ‘Loki’.Marvel Studios
She said, ‘This is really uncomfortable and silly.
I don’t see why, because I’m a female character, I should wear heels.
It’s just an action-y role and I would wear something flat.'"
Sophia Di Martino and Tom Hiddleston in ‘Loki’.Marvel Studios
And the thoughtful updates were present from the ground up.
But more importantly, it does the job for which she needs it.
Her sister is a superhero, while Yelena’s suit is a military sort of white suit.
It’s appropriate for missions in the snow.
I just wanted to keep it functional."
And then cameBlack Widow’s hair-tie moment of its own.
But more importantly, she explains that she loves it because it has pockets.
(The joys of finding an item of clothing with pockets: Extremely relatable!)
She is strong and a kick-ass girl, and she wants to show that."
Our goal with her was to keep it about her character and not turn her into a joke.
What would Sylvie do?"
That translated to Sylvie’s entire look, not just her armor.
“It allowed us to not have everything be form-fitting.
“I just think function is such a clear and important thing to reference in all good design.
She extended that idea all acrossLoki, to every character from the main cast to background players.
That thoughtful philosophy doesn’t just apply to the onscreen aspects of the costumes for Wada.
“And Sophia’s job wasn’t just being Sylvieher job was also being a successful mother.”
So Wada began figuring out how best to evolve Sylvie’s costume to accommodate the new mother’s needs.
It often can show in the performance, so it’s always something to be considered.
I hope we continue on this path.”
