‘The Witcher’ costumes were designed so actors could ‘actually fight in them’

Costumes in science fiction or fantasy franchises are meant to be otherworldly, but they’re not always practical. Over on the set of The Witcher, however, that’s not always the case.

Costume designer Lucinda Wright revealed to Deadline that when it comes to costumes on the popular Henry Cavill-led show, realism is something she strives to achieve. Wright actually joined the show in the second season and built on the framework established in season one. She was also just nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes category.

Wright said she followed character progression on the show to achieve the look for Geralt and his associates.

“It was important to follow the scripts, to follow how the characters progressed. I wanted to bring more realism to the costumes and I wanted to incorporate a new look for the armor for Geralt and for the Nilfgaard, to make it more grounded.”

Regardless of the genre, she said, it’s important that an audience actually believe that a costume is realistic.

“Even though it is fantasy and magical, you should still really believe in what people wear and it should really reflect the storyline and take the characters onto a different level. So that’s the idea I brought: to design costumes that look like you can actually fight in them and move in them and they can be broken down and they have a purpose for them. Sometimes costumes do need to look glamorous and fantastic, but when you see a Nilfgaard soldier, you must believe that he could come and attack you and defend himself in a fight.

“Especially with Geralt, to make him look like more of a killing machine and showcase Henry [Cavill]’s physique. It needed to be like his second skin, so he should be able to just zip into action. That’s what realism is for me for the clothes, and you almost don’t notice them as much.”

Wright also revealed that it was important to her that fans reacted positively to her work.

“The biggest challenge for me was to make sure the fans really liked it. I didn’t want it to look like, ‘Oh, there’s another costume designer for season two.’ I wanted to carry along certain aspects from season one, so it kind of gave it a flow and was able to keep the fans happy, and to also make sure production and the actors were happy as well.

“That’s the biggest challenge in costume design, to make sure you do your vision but also take into account everyone who’s wearing it and everyone who works with the sets and with the makeup.”

As for her favorite costume in the series, she said she has a few.

“I think it would be Gertalt’s armor and the Nilfgaard… Oh God, there’s so many, like Francesca the new elf and Yennifer. I mean, they’re all such brilliant characters that it’s really hard to decide, but I would say the one that made me smile every day was putting Henry into his armor. For many reasons.”

The Witcher season 3 is currently being filmed with a potential date of sometime in 2023.