For many an artist, inspiration can come from the most unexpected of places - design is no exception. For Holly Waddington, the costume designer for Yorgos Lanthimos' film Poor Things, this spark came from a single reference: a photo of inflatable latex trousers by HARRI London. This seemingly simple starting point led Waddington on a creative journey that resulted in a body of experimental and visually striking costumes for the film detailing the eventful tale of protagonist Bella.
In a critically-lauded, steampunk-adjacent, Mary Shelly-esque cinematic fantasy we see a rehashing of the romantically familiar trope of playing god. “God” was also fittingly a pseudonym bestowed upon the quizzical scientist Godwin Baxter by the reanimated form of the once-dead Bella. The headstrong protagonist’s subsequent misadventures of tension, growth and enlightenment are depicted through the deliberate design choices of Waddington.
Holly Waddington at the 96th Academy Awards, winning for Best Costume Design for Poor Things) Credits: 96th Annual Academy Awards - Press Room / John Shearer/GettyImages
In an interview with Another Magazine, Waddington delineates the process of her research and design for the film: origins which were thematically inspired by the work of HARRI London. In the interview, Waddington reflects on how “[Lanthimos] made it clear that he didn’t want it to look like a period drama or too sci-fi, and wasn’t too bothered about when it was set, although we agreed to keep it to the 19th century. The brief was to play and experiment [...] the idea behind their modernity is that they represent her intellectual awakening [...] the only reference [Lanthimos] gave me was a photo of inflatable trousers made out of latex by a young British brand, Harri. From that, I took the idea of air and made a body of very experimental work”
Many have come to know our work through our boundary-pushing designs, which are conceptualised by Harri himself. Particularly distinguished for our inflatable latex trousers, much of our work centres around the distortion of the human form and playing with proportions in a way that challenges traditional fashion norms. Our designs strive to go beyond functional clothing; they are a form of performance art that transforms the wearer into a living, moving sculpture. Harri's fascination with the human body's contours and his personal approach to design—shaped by his background in bodybuilding and his father's artistic influence—culminate in the creations we stock and share today: creations that are both visually and conceptually provocative.
For Harri’s debut spring collection, which featured expansive latex balloon pants, the designs went viral, showcasing the genesis of our general design blueprint: blending form and texture to create exaggerated silhouettes. In an article for Vogue, Harri elaborated, stating, “My father encouraged me to study Sarah Simblet’s book Anatomy for the Artist, which I was obsessed with during my gym days. However, my interests within it took a different turn when I began sketching clothes.”
This very modus operandi —the idea of air and inflation—was incorporated throughout Waddington’s work for Poor Things in several scenes. She experimented with lung-like sleeves, textured fabrics, and exaggerated proportions, creating costumes with small shoulders paired with huge arms and curvaceous bottoms and legs. This experimental phase was later refined and toned down to align with the film's narrative and aesthetic. Waddington for Another describes how “at the beginning of the film, it’s like [Bella has] been dressed by Mrs Prim. She’s got ladylike clothes in childlike fabrics, but because she’s like a little girl, she becomes undressed very quickly – starting the day fully dressed, by mid-morning she’d have lost her skirt. There was a transition when she got to Lisbon. The clothes grow and develop with her, from seersucker and quilting to being more grown up.”
A recurring theme is the research, intrigue and ultimate distortion of bodily proportions: “For [character] Duncan Wedderburn, I looked at 19th-century cartoons of ruling-class British men. Their chests are puffed, they're wearing hats to look taller, and are sticking their bums out – they look bonkers. I wanted him to have the body shape of one of the cartoons I’d seen. I made him body padding: he had buttock-enhancing pants, a phallus, and subtle chest padding.”
Holly Waddington's work with Yorgos Lanthimos and the inspiration drawn from literature and a singular photo highlights the powerful synergy between costume design and high fashion. Both fields, at their best, are about more than aesthetics they are about storytelling, performance, and pushing the boundaries of how we communicate and perceive clothing.
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Cover Picture Credits : ©Searchlight Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
