GF: First off, congratulations. This thing looks so cool. Japan itself is a character in this film. Tell me about creating the world.

SE: Thanks. It was important to us that it was cohesive, and all the characters made sense within it. Of course, with so many people who are such talented and experienced filmmakers, everyone came in with their own ideas of what their character feels like.

GF: Let’s talk about you for a minute. How did you get into costume design?

SE: In college I was interested in history. My thesis was on Aztec clothing—the weaving and traditional textiles, and how clothing could be more valuable than gold. After that I got into textile conservation. Then realized I wanted to make more than I wanted to preserve, so I started with some upholstery in New York City. I slowly wound my way to costume design and just started doing it. I interned to cut my teeth in indie film, which is an amazing education because you have to learn how to do everything. From there I got into commercials then television. Trayce Gigi Field brought me on to do Two Broke Girls.

GF: Does having a history background give you research chops?

SE: I am a huge research person. It’s the place you can dig your hooks in. Research is where your design gets grounded. It’s the pressure that makes the diamonds. You need constraints to focus the creative process. You get a seed of an idea that snowballs and you understand where your design is coming from. Hopefully, you can sell that to your directors and actors. Otherwise, you start over.

GF: This is your third project with director David Leitch. What’s it like working with him?

SE: It’s fantastic and transformative. If I were to look back, my break would’ve been Hobbs & Shaw because that’s when I first met Kelly McCormick and David Leitch. That led to this collaboration. David as director and Kelly producer are really amazing at handling creatives. They’re able to pivot, and asking you to pivot. Their team has been with them for several projects, so there is a bottom line trust and understanding. It’s a very safe place to double down on creativity, because the best idea wins.

GF: Why don’t we look at some of the characters? Let’s start with Ladybug. He’s got that peacoat and we have to talk about the hat.

SE: I have to say the bucket hat was Brad Pitt’s idea and it’s brilliant. I mean, what do you do when someone comes up with an idea like that, other than say, “Let’s go for it.” It’s a take on Colombo. This downtrodden, very talented, good guy assassin PI. Once the bucket hat was in play, we started layering pieces. This is a guy who had given up. He was sitting on his dock fishing and got a phone call, so what else would he be wearing? We chose traditional garments that felt a bit maritime. Things that felt classic but might be a uniform.

GF: Let’s go over a couple of the other characters. Tell me about Maria Beetle played by Sandra Bullock?

SE: Well, she also came with ideas. I want to say a masculine-femininity, both sides of her character would play against Ladybug. She was inspired by the photography of Josef Koudelka in the fifties, sixties and seventies. The idea was that her father was Ramani and that she was wearing a coat inspired by him, or maybe even was his.

GF: What about Prince [Joey King] and her schoolgirl look?

SE: Japan has such a long, artful aesthetic history. There was so much to dig into. I felt lucky to work within that lexicon. In the original material, she was in boarding school. We took a traditional uniform and made it chic. She is the wolf in sheep’s clothing, yet there’s something powerful about her silhouette.

GF: And The Elder (Hiroyuki Sanada)?

SE: His work is incredible. That was amazing because he knew how a kendo jacket was supposed to feel on his neck, exactly how high up it should be raised, and how wide the border should be. He has a deep understanding of traditional Japanese dress. We started with those more classic elements, and made them modern.

GF: Kimura is played by Andrew Koji. He has a quiet sort of charisma.

SE: Andrew was our first fitting. He’s one of those actors that has retained his wonder from childhood, and that is really amazing to access. His fitting was very visceral. He was intensely focused on the clothing. Kimura is more Japanese-inspired workwear. We used fabrics that show how he was a bit war-torn and beaten. Kimura has a little bit more weight, so even the boots needed to feel right.

GF: This is an action movie, so let’s talk about distressing, and how many multiples did you have?

SE: Endless. We had to have many multiples because not only did everyone just have one costume that they wear every day, but the costume had to be in different states of disrepair. Also, you always have a curveball thrown at you. “Oh, we’re cutting a hole in that now are we?” Then all the stunt guys. So really I had endless multiples and the ability to make more if we needed. That was one reason we decided to build rather than buy, so we would have that flexibility. Also, David Leitch loves aging, and he’s very artful. Whenever people are getting gory, you’re definitely giving him his own blood bottle.