‘Watchmen’ Costume Designers Explain The Evolution of Sister Night’s Superhero Skirt

In the latest episode of Variety’s Artisans, presented by HBO, “Watchmen” costume designers Sharen Davis and Meghan Kasperlik, along with actress Regina King, breakdown how they brought each character’s costume to life.

“Every aspect of this show required a whole different mind thought, said Davis. “Even the individual characters that were heroes, it was all different because all of them had a different backstory.”

Kasperlik went on to share that creating the individual costumes required a significant amount of research beyond the illustrations that were seen in the comics.

“I am not only looking at the history that is in the books, but what are they farming at that time period in the year, what are they eating, what they drinking, what is the lifestyle that they are living, the demographics…I really wanted to stay authentic to materials, but needed it to function,” said Kasperlik.

She explained that a costume would be slightly altered throughout the series based on the change of storytelling or the development of the character, but it was vital to keep the similarities between the costumes seen in the graphic novel as the one on the series.

“It’s really important, I think, to carry on in graphic novel form that the superheroes have pretty much the same costume throughout because that’s how the audience can instantly know who they are.”

The drama series, created by Damon Lindelof, is based on the comic books created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The series takes place in alternate reality where costumed superheroes are a part of everyday life.

Watch the full “Watchmen” costume breakdown above.