Henry Cavill broke the internet when photos were first released of The Witcher’s Geralt of Rivia. The stylish iron-clad armor became an iconic image for the character. It went through an overhaul for season 2, looking fiercer and more dynamic. But what goes into designing such memorable outfits? Today we speak to Lucinda Wright, the mastermind behind the costumes, about her experience on set and how her clothes tell the story.
This post contains spoilers from The Witcher.
What was the starting point for The Witcher season 2?
“The first thing I did when I joined the job was sit down with [showrunner Lauren Schmidt] before I even spoke to Henry [Cavill],” Wright begins. “I just listened to what she thought of the characters and where she wanted them to go. She was the key to it for me. I always think you should listen, because other people might trigger off something that you’ve never necessarily thought about. So it’s invaluable.”
As Wright was new to the series, she was aware of the need for continuity. “There had been a season before and I obviously sat down and watched it all because I didn’t want it to look like another designer just came in,” she said. Working with production designer Andrew Laws was also important; he’s been with the production for both seasons. The golden rule is that “sets and costumes should marry together and complement each other.”
Wright put herself into the mindset of someone designing in that era, and visited museums, read books, and looked at paintings. Above all, the costumes had to look “lived in” as “the most important aim of any job, is to actually make the clothes look like people do wear them.”
Styling Henry Cavill as Geralt
It’s widely known that Cavill is as obsessed with the series as its most hardcore fans, so it’s not surprising that he is invested in the creative process. Wright recalls discussing Geralt with the actor and how the clothes reflected his journey. “When I first met Henry, we sat down together, and he talked me through all the armor of the first series: what has been good, what’s not been good. Between the two of us, we worked on this for months to get it right. And it was great because he cares so much about it. That’s really refreshing with an actor.”
While Wright says that costumes shouldn’t be noticed — they really blur into fancy dress if not made correctly — it was unavoidable that Geralt’s warrior look would steal the spotlight. The armor this season elevated his character and became the standout costume of the season. Stepping into it was almost a metaphor for Geralt starting his next chapter as Ciri’s guardian. “I wanted to keep the studded look of the first season,” Wright explained. “But I wanted it to be more fluid and more like a second skin and go with Henry’s body, so that he could move because he’s a killing machine.”
Eight sets of the armor were made ahead of filming, even though it’s only used in the latter part of the season.
How do the costumes catalog Yennefer’s journey?
Yennefer developed quite a menacing persona throughout season 1. In season 2, we see her in a new light as she deals with the loss of her powers after the Battle of Sodden. As her character changes, so do her outfits. In place of the somewhat villainous power outfits she wore before, there are now “softer lines and color.”
The sorceress refuses to kill a Nilfgaardian captive in Episode 3, “What Is Lost.” “I’d be gift wrapping yet another reason for Stregobor to vilify me,” she says. She’s reinventing herself through these decisions and through her clothing. Interestingly, the black dress with sequins from this episode was one of the most time-consuming projects. “It had to look like it was constructed with nothing, kind of dripping off her but actually, it had a corset in it, it was boned, but it had to give that illusion,” Wright explained.
But despite the new direction, the character is as strong as ever. Wright’s designs show that power comes in different forms, and Yennefer can look just as commanding in these types of outfits. “I wanted to carry that strong image but I wanted to break her down a bit to show she was vulnerable and not so literally black and white,” Wright said. “There was another layer to her, a softer layer. I wanted the clothes to reflect that she wasn’t this hardened…I picked up on the violet of her eyes, and also brought in a plum color with a cloak.”
Ciri’s outfits act as clues
Before reaching Kaer Morhen, Ciri dresses in embellished gowns, a huge contrast to the middle part of the season. Resisting the fate of being married off to the nearest “Lord of Bad Breath” in Cintra, Ciri starts training and her wardrobe takes on a more practical approach.
Her palette is also very bright. “The most important thing for me is to give each character a color palette, and a silhouette so that when you do have so many people, the viewer will know who they’re looking at and what they associate them with,” Write said.
When Ciri experiences an alternate reality in episode 8, she’s back in a pristine gown after wearing disheveled traveling attire for several episodes. The change of clothing is one of several things that tells the audience that something is very amiss.
Did the video game influence Jaskier ‘s fabulous jacket?
As a bard, Jaskier is a showman, and this season gave him a new purpose as the Sandpiper, who helps smuggle endangered elves to safety. And with a new identity comes a new outfit, more in line with the video game version of the character. The plot twist? Wright had no idea.
“I never ever looked at the game. I purposefully didn’t. I would sit there with Lauren, I’d say is this character anywhere near it? And she would look [at the designs] and say yes or no.” As Jaskier points out to Yennefer “I’m an artist” and the attire definitely reflects his creative larger-than-life attitude.
“I worked with Joey [Batey] and he obviously knows everything,” Wright continued. “I wanted to make the trousers and a leather suede shirt flamboyant and the coat a statement and we just went through loads of colors together. And I also gave him some jewelry, like a pendant and some gold rings on a chain. He’s a really great person to work with because he knows his character inside out.”
Working on the set of The Witcher
The pandemic halted production on the second season of The Witcher four weeks in, but that ended up benefitting the costumes. When Netflix asked the team to incorporate masks into the costumes, she made them a design feature in the outfits worn by the extras, which fit the darker tone of the series. This especially elevated the Nilfgaardian costumes, as Wright explained: “I decided to put on their helmets or a mask going across so that you could protect people. I actually think that was the making of that armor.” It also meant the same extras could be used for various scenes.
Wright revealed that the biggest misconception about her job is that costumes designers don’t spend time on sets. “It’s really important to me, to be there as much as I can. Some people think costume designers just perhaps sit in a room and do some drawings and then wander off.”
"I did work as an assistant to many designers who you wouldn’t really see, once filming started. I could never understand that because I thought, surely this is the bit where you see the set, you see how the actor moves. I loved it. I think that’s because I adore filming. It’s so important to see how it looks."
Overall, the cast’s attitude made working on The Witcher set “a dream job…When you go to work every day and someone’s really excited to see their costume, it’s unbelievable. It gives you a lot back.”
Wright proves with the series that costumes are the unsung heroes of storytelling. Each garment is a marker of time in a character’s development, and the high quality shows that the designer spared no detail in enriching the fantasy viewing experience.
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