Brave New World’s Future is Undoubtedly Fashionable

In a previous article on the topic of costume design and science fiction (the Raised by Wolves one, in case you forgot or did not know), I mentioned NBCUniversal Peacock’s series Brave New World. There is a purpose behind it. I wanted readers to acknowledge its existence because eventually, it would be the show’s turn to receive an exploration of its fashion designs. Regardless of how well it did with critics and audiences, or how well it adapted and built upon its source material (Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World novel, a critique of the early 20th century’s utopian ideas about a possible future based on the values of the times), the show’s costume design, and style in general, is a visual experience that uses a mixture of 1930s motifs with contemporary fashion to picture a dangerously attractive version of our future.

Brave New World was developed by Brian Taylor, David Wiener, and Grant Morrison. While you may not know any of these names, Grant Morrison is an iconic DC Comics writer, and if you know me and my article oeuvre, you know I love DC. He is known for esoteric plots and crazy scripts, so adapting a novel that is aesthetically rich and full of possibility storywise, most significantly due to the shifting values that mark each century, is something he excels on. For those rare few reading right now that know Final Crisis, Multiversity, and his run of Doom Patrol, you have an idea of what this writer is capable of imagining; otherwise, I believe anyone reading words like Final Crisis, Multiversity, and Doom Patrol without having the slightest idea of what they mean in the context of comics may comprehend the level of “out thereness” and existential dilemmas they convey. That is all to say that, even if the story in the novel is not very similar to the series’ (and I must tell you, the latter deviates so glaringly from the book in its characterization and message), the show’sstyle, especially the myriad of different garment designs, is for sure one of its most fascinating aspects.

In broad strokes (a challenge in itself), the TV show follows two characters, Bernard (played by Harry Lloyd) and Lenina Crowne (played by Jessica Brown Findlay), in a utopic New London where, amongst the various changes to today’s society, human embryos are genetically developed in artificial wombs and separated into social castes before birth (Epsilons in the bottom and Alpha Pluses in the top). During their childhood development, they are conditioned to deny solipsism and monogamy and give in to sharing their pleasures with the rest of society while performing their caste vocations correctly and without question, always perceiving their mental health as a benefit for the collective, and never challenging the social bodies above them and accepting the provocations from those below them. However, upon venturing into the Savage Lands and encountering John, the Savage (played by Alden Ehrenreich), Bernard and Lenina’s view of this “utopian” society changes into eventual defiance of its machinations. The social castes’ fashion also reflects the citizen’s positions in society, but interestingly, while in the book, only one color is assigned to each class (Black for Epsilons, Kaki for Deltas, Green for Gammas, Pink/Purple for Betas, and Grey for Alphas), in the show, it is instead the style of clothing that primarily defines the classes.

Therefore, to speak of Brave New World’s fashion in detail is a very daunting experience as the amount of variance inside the social classes (besides Epsilons grey janitor uniforms) is vast, especially without the use of colors to help to define them, which makes appropriately distinguishing Alphas from Betas and Gammas from Deltas challenging when, for example, they are walking on the streets. However, it is possible to classify the series’ costume designs in three different ways: day looks, night looks, and the clothing of the Savages.

But first, I would like to acknowledge costume designer Susie Coulthard, who previously worked on Black Mirror’s episodes Metalhead and the award winner San Juniper (my favorite episode, and I think of many people), and brands Jako Schelpfer and Cotweiller for their work on the show. Although there is not much on the internet about the creative process behind the designs Couthhard worked on and how she came up with the futuristic look (I would love to know how she worked with the production team to design Brave New World’s version of the future), she has briefly commented on her inspirations before. In an email to SYFY Wire, she mentions, “Let’s not forget the novel was written 90 years ago. I wanted to give a nod to this by looking at the fashion of the '30s when the novel was written.” I will go a little bit more into the day looks later, but the 1930’s high society male and female fashion clearly inspired the show’s garments. Moreover, it is known that Coulthard partnered with Swiss textile company Jakob Schlaepfer to weave the glossy, oily, and glassine looks that populate New London in contrast with the more wool-based comfortable 1930s inspired ones. And she also worked with Cottweiler at one point, a high concept, high-fashion streetwear company, since they mention they helped design Brave New World’s costumes in their Instagram (specifically which ones remain to be known as the series has a lot of different garments), something very on-brand for Cottweiler as they are known for innovative fashion.

Now, I think it is time to address the visual side of this article. From my classifications, I will be separating the day looks into work clothing and leisure clothing. Looking into the Alphas first, because they work in positions of power and control, their garments usually are very formal and cover most of their bodies because they work in positions of authority. For male characters like Bernard, who is in charge of ensuring that people are emotionally healthy and available for the social body’s good, tailored wool blazers, dress pants, and open trench coats were designed to be worn with a turtleneck sweater and sometimes an added scarf to create this image of power from volume. Also, as sex is something normal, rather encouraged in Brave New World’s society, covering the flesh instills the idea that such a person is harder to get, more unattainable, creating this dynamic of power and respect. Yet, it does not prevent the look from being attractive as Henry Foster (played by Sen Mitsuji) wears form-fitted suit jackets with low turtleneck shirts that accentuate his athletic physique. Separately, the 1930s were famous for the sharp form-fitted business suits, and both turtlenecks and trench coats were around at the time and part of the male wardrobe. But together, the garments are a fashion statement suitable for the future.

As a side note, the show does not depict many Alphas of the opposite gender, but the female Alphas key to the story (Wilhelmina Watson portrayed by Hannah John-Kamen and World Controller Mustafa Mond) wear loose poncho shirt-dresses and robes as professional attire. The 1930s reference is lost on me, but they fulfill the “cover less skin” and “power through volume” constant of this caste.

Compared to the Alphas, the Betas wear lighter, more transparent, and glossier garments and appear with leisure clothing, something that sets them apart. Here is where Jakob Schlaepfer’s textiles start to shine in the series. Because Betas are, in a summarized way, the scientists or lab technicians of the society, fertilizing and classifying the caste of different newly formed embryonic zygotes, women wear white lab coats that cover different types of dresses and skirts while men wear white lab coats over loose scoop neck t-shirts and trousers. However, they only wear their coats inside their labs, which look almost transparent and very glassine as if instead of protecting, they serve as a reminder of a past custom. Thus outside them, anything is possible.

Lenina is an excellent example of how her sense of style transcends the limitations of work clothing. Betas can wear different types of dresses or t-shirts for work, but Lenina not only has a closet full of dress types like rompers, sleeveless bodycon, and wrap, but she is seen with evening capes and tied-up trench coats replacing her lab coats as a leisure look. The audience even gets to see Lenina Crowne and her friend Frannie Crowne (played by Kylie Bunbury) wearing white sports attire full of webbed and accordion mashes playing tennis in a high-tech court. Betas are the most fluid and dynamic caste in terms of fashion, and most of the garments I listed Lenina wearing (her rompers, trench coats, capes, wrap dresses) were very much present in the 30s. What makes the show’s costume design feel futuristic is the use of unusual textiles and colors and the combination of past and present fashion to create something new.

Night looks, then, go all out on the futuristic innovative side of fashion Huxley could never even possibly imagine. These looks, characteristic of New London’s social nightlife, are very much a result of the haute couture and technology of the present and our understanding of how fashion may look in the future from a 2010’s viewpoint, with 3D printed clothing that can morph into anything you design in real-time, selected from tech lenses that connect characters with the whole of society (yep, that happens in the show). Every scene that occurs in a nightclub is priceless because of the creativity behind each and every style for both the main actors and the extras, especially the female garments, and I believe it is something anyone interested in fashion should look forward to when watching Brave New World (if you choose to, but be careful because nudity and sex are primarily depicted in them).

It is in the nightlife scenes that Coulthard, Cottweiler (I would believe their collaboration resulted in at least the night looks), and Jakob Schlaepfer’s work become something transcendental and maybe even prophetic (not regarding the dystopian background, but the fashion scene). I say this because Brave New World’s night fashion is not the result of one person depicting what they think the future may resemble based on their perspective of life, but a consequence of haute culture and high-fashion brands giving their input on today’s fashion scene and likely trends to inform a more realistic future. It is indeed exciting to imagine how technology will influence how we will look, and it is even more exhilarating when seeing a well-crafted educated guess depicted visually on the screens.

Finally, I should mention the designs worn by the Savages. For contextualization, not all cities globally are ultra-technological conditioning hubs of progress, sex, soma (compliance and emotional welfare drug), and complacency. Some people decided not to give up their freedoms and solipsism to be part of Brave New World’s depiction of a flawed utopian society, so they live in poverty in reserves worldwide. The show’s Savage Lands are different from the books as they are located in an undisclosed US Midwestern place and work more like a resort, museum, and theater experience where the “savages” act out the sins behind concepts like monogamy, capitalist indulgence, and free will (crimes).

So, the savage garments represent how stuck in time (outdated) and materially impoverished they are. They wear something that resembles a 70s hippie style, with lots of disco suits, tank tops, and jeans and leather pants, belts, and jackets. The show does this to seemingly depict the savage community as a group of cults and gangs (the Savage Lands do look a lot like Spahn Ranch) seeking to remain outside of civilization’s mockery in a self-sufficient reserve. There is a lot of gaslighting between John, his lover Madysun, her boyfriend, and gang leader Sheila at the beginning of the show, and Sheila herself tried to get John into her gang to help them kill all outsiders in an act of defiance against the world.

John, then, goes through the most and least significant change in fashion of any character in Brave New World. He goes from troubled lover boy wearing dirty white t-shirts and tank tops with skinny pants and an orange shirt covered by a red nylon jacket to, when he moves to New London, troubled lover boy sometimes wearing light grey and white t-shirts and slacks, other times wearing black/navy velvet peacoats and black/navy slacks. The show depicts the “Savage” devoid of any bright hue in the new city, outfitted in the dullest of shades. Yet there are moments in the series that display John with a similar wardrobe to his Savage Lands style, especially his choice of a white t-shirt. He never wanted to go to New London; he just wished to escape the poverty-stricken place he lived in for his and his mother’s sake (played by Demi Moore), so at the beginning, his mentality in the city was one of escape, reflected by the similarly styled clothing. But as John began to fall in love with Lenina and (briefly) enjoys London, the fabrics and colors of his garments became darker and more sophisticated to represent him losing his principles, joy, and will to be free due to (mild spoiler) sexual indulgence and Lenina’s own doubts about free will and love’s importance against the “perfect life.”

In conclusion, Brave New World should be on anyone’s list who likes to watch shows not only because of their compelling stories and characters but also because of their ability to weave clothing and personalities together and translate possibility into a visual aesthetic that either predicts that future of fashion or provides grounds for inspiring future trends.

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