Marvel's Loki series has broken down the God of Mischief like he's never been before in the MCU. Along the way, he's not only crossed paths with the agents and hunters of the Time Variance Authority, but also with multiple variants of himself from across different timelines. That has meant creating a number of varied looks, from the 1950s middle management style of the TVA to classic throwback comic book costumes, and that job went to costume designer Christine Wada

Wada spoke to Screen Rant about creating a look to literally and figuratively represent the stripping away of Loki's armor, how many times Tom Hiddleston ripped his unforgiving slacks, the fun of putting Richard E. Grant in a swirling cape, and more.

This is a really different version of Loki than we've seen before. Visually, he's really stripped down, just very middle management style. Was that always the plan or did that just organically develop as the narrative did?

Christine Wada: I'd say it was always the plan to put Loki in a very vulnerable visual position, so there were different iterations that we kept stripping down and it eventually landed there. But I think that the concept was always to bring out the visual vulnerability in the character and then take away the armor, both figuratively and literally.

I have to ask how many of those shirts he went through, because he's been in the same costume for multiple episodes now.

Christine Wada: We had 14 of them. But I'd say more so you should be asking about the pants!

That's a very good point.

Christine Wada: How did he make it through all those pants! Because Tom definitely does a lot of action and some serious fighting, and he's physical. Just as an actor, he has a lot of physicality to him. But yeah, we had a lot of pants and shirts on that set, and the pants are actually made from 1950s sharkskin fabric, so they have zero stretch. So that's why I bring it up because it really is like 1950's suit fabric, so it's a miracle that he made it through with only my 15 pairs of pants.

That was actually my next question, as I was wondering if you had to make a whole new custom costume to look like a pair of mid-century, old school pants.

Christine Wada: Isn't it incredible? We did not! I'd say that's the biggest achievement of the job and probably a huge win because I loved seeing that suiting.

You can put that on your resume: "Did not rip his pants." 

Christine Wada: Oh, but he did! You guys just didn't see it but yes, he did. [laughing] I love it because I think it just doesn't give away all the action, it really lets the action feel like...organic.

Sophia Di Martino shared a really lovely picture of her maternity costume that you modified so she could nurse her newborn. Was that something that she asked you to do or is that something that you just did on your own?

Christine Wada: I just did it on my own. It's always a part of my thinking process in costumes because I want the marriage between the costume and the actor and the character to be very successful and easy, so that the performance can just be the best it can be. So I always think about that stuff. I think about, is it gonna make them too hot? How can I keep them cool? Are their feet comfortable? I always think of that as part of my job because I want them to be successful performers. I don't want them to be worrying about that, and I just think that we're all there to support each other and to make each other successful at what we do. So when I came back from her first fitting and saw she was a new mom, the shop and I, we just started to think about it and how we could do it. And also some of it is logistical, like you don't wanna hold up camera or for Sophia to feel bad that she's holding up camera, and you also want to make sure that the baby gets fed. There are many elements there! So yeah, we worked on that, me and my lovely team. It actually wasn't as easy as I thought it was gonna be, but we got it worked out.

Was it a challenge just because it was hard to design it in a way that didn't look clunky on camera?

Christine Wada: Yeah, I was just hiding it, getting the zippers in a really good place to be a.) comfortable for her under that armor, and b.) to not show. So it was all about the positioning, just things that are part of the person's comfort, it's a lot going on. There's a lot going on and there are a lot of different needs to satisfy: the comfort of her being able to pump and the accessibility and the accessibility for the baby, but then also from the filming standpoint, what will be? What will still move right?

Along those lines, do you have a specific kind of process that you go through every single time that you are planning the look of costumes for a specific production?

Christine Wada: Yes I do, and my process always starts in reference and research. I always just sit down and research. For instance, with Loki, since there's so much world-building, I just kind of plowed through. I mean, my library at home is huge, so it's just trying to find inspiration for the world, and then usually I just break down all the characters and do research. I tend to prefer real-life references than to just film references, and then I go into that, which leads me to color palette. And then we start illustrating. But I'm very much the person who likes to be grounded and I like to have some attachment to reality.

You kind of had the best of both worlds with this, because you had Loki in just his button-down and his slacks, but then you also had the fun of getting to play with the other variations of Loki, like Classic Loki and Kid Loki. Was it fun being able to play on opposite ends of the spectrum with the normal clothing and then the fun comic book fantasy costumes?

Christine Wada: Yes, it's really fun! It's like a feat in engineering and also just really great. It's really fun to work, to be able to just work with textures and palette and proportions and functionality. You really get into all the different nooks and crannies of your brain and your past knowledge, which is you know, a lot of fun.

I imagine Richard E. Grant's costume was probably the hardest to do because it's just that pure spandex–

Christine Wada: Oh my God. [laughing]

–and that does not always work well on screen.

Christine Wada: Oh God, no. You know, I did get some vintage fabrics for that just to really bring home a vintage feel and it wasn't easy. But it was also just really fun to put somebody like Richard E. Grant in that and also to just find the right cape design for him, somebody who can really manage a costume like he can. That cape, I think has like seven yards of fabric in it.

Next: Interview With Loki Composer Natalie Holt

 

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