{"id":752497,"date":"2025-11-27T15:40:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T12:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=752497"},"modified":"2025-11-27T15:40:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T12:40:02","slug":"the-production-designer-and-costume-designer-of-hamnet-on-bringing-shakespeares-world-to-textured-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=752497","title":{"rendered":"The Production Designer and Costume Designer of \u2018Hamnet\u2019 on Bringing Shakespeare\u2019s World to Textured Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
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TV & Movies<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

How Hamnet<\/em>\u2019s Costume and Production Designers Brought Shakespeare\u2019s World to Textured Life<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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By <\/span>Elaina Patton<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

November 27, 2025<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Chlo\u00e9 Zhao, Paul Mescal, and Jessie Buckley on the set of Hamnet<\/em>.<\/span>Photo: Agata Grzybowska \/ \u00a9 Focus Features \/ Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
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After a detour into the superhero genre with 2021\u2019s Eternals<\/em>, Chlo\u00e9 Zhao, the Oscar-winning director of Nomadland<\/em>, is back to contemplating the human condition\u2014this time, in a romance-driven period piece steeped in literary lore.<\/p>\n

Hamnet<\/em>, adapted from Maggie O\u2019Farrell\u2019s 2020 novel of the same name, imagines how loss inspired William Shakespeare\u2019s Hamlet<\/em>, a ghost story written just a few years after the death of his 11-year-old son. The film stars Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley as fictionalized versions of the Bard and his wife, Agnes, the two of whom share a whirlwind romance before the realities of domestic life set in and, eventually, grief threatens to tear them apart.<\/p>\n

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Hamnet<\/em>\u2019s production design and costumes suit the film\u2019s intimate focus and scale, with Zhao\u2019s camera lingering on a home full of family history and the objects of daily life, and evocative period garments made from natural materials.<\/p>\n

Costume designer Malgosia Turzanska says that the visual language for Hamnet<\/em> evolved naturally among Zhao and the film\u2019s other lead creatives, including director of photography \u0141ukasz \u017bal and production designer Fiona Crombie. The point was always to center the story and its people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like the period movies that work the best are the ones that are actually focused on the characters rather than the confines of the period,\u201d Turzanska, whose film credits also include The Green Knight<\/em> and Pearl<\/em>, tells Vogue<\/em>. \u201cAnd the really cool thing that happened was that, before we started prep, Chlo\u00e9 sent \u0141ukasz, Fiona, and I each other\u2019s lookbooks, and we were so on the same page. Everyone was driving with emotion rather than the period.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jacobi Jupe, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, and Olivia Lynes in Hamnet<\/em>.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Photo: Agata Grzybowska \/\u00a9 Focus Features \/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Each of the film\u2019s primary characters\u2014from Will\u2019s father and mother (played by David Wilmot and Emily Watson) to Agnes\u2019s brother (Joe Alwyn) and the three youngest Shakespeares, which include twins Judith and Hamnet (Olivia Lynes and Jacobi Jupe)\u2014had lovingly crafted wardrobes. But Turzanska\u2019s talent for character-driven storytelling is most evident in the looks worn by Will and Agnes, which evolve as the young lovers mature into a married couple, parents, and then relative strangers following their son\u2019s death.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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For the headstrong, maternal Agnes, who is spiritually caught between the modern world and a more ancient, primal place, Turzanska used a palette of sanguine, rust, russet, crimson, and prune, inspired by the different stages of blood\u2014from freshly oxidized to aged, clotted, and scabbed. The garments themselves are voluminous: with cartridge-pleated skirts or dresses paired with smocks, underskirts, and bodices that are layered or subtracted in number to mirror Agnes\u2019 state of mind. All were constructed from organic fabrics, including bark cloth and an array of linens, and adorned with touches like tiny embroidered dashes and weaving patterns that mimic those made by tree-eating bugs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A costume sketch for Agnes by costume designer Malgosia Turzanska.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Credit: Malgosia Turzanska \/ \u00a9 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Jessie Buckley and Turzanska on the set of Hamnet<\/em>.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Photo: Agata Grzybowska \/ \u00a9 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Photo: Agata Grzybowska \/ \u00a9 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cI didn\u2019t want to overpower her with details, because ultimately she\u2019s very kind of punk and very down-to-earth,\u201d Turzanska says. \u201cBut from that very, very first bodice\u2014which is bark cloth, the fiber underneath the tree\u2014there was a bit of uneven, organic embroidery through her garments, especially through her bodices. There\u2019s always something kind of weaving through.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A detail of Agnes\u2019s clothing.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Photo: Malgosia Turzanska \/ \u00a9 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Agnes is also, Turzanska adds, \u201cmostly wearing plants, starting with the literal [bark cloth] and then flax or linens with those little embroideries. So she\u2019s very connected to nature and looks almost like she came out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where textures, colors, and silhouettes evoking the natural world define Agnes\u2019s garments\u2014which, Turzanska notes, are \u201cworn without any understructure,\u201d as if the character is willfully disregarding the sartorial rules and mores of the period\u2014Will\u2019s belong very much to the world of man. They also borrow much more literally from the Elizabethan era and details from the Bard\u2019s real life, as well as drawing from O\u2019Farrell\u2019s portrayal of Will\u2019s father, a once-successful glove maker, as a violently embittered man.<\/p>\n

Turzanska and her team used iron gall ink, the most popular ink during Shakespeare\u2019s time, to dye Will\u2019s garments into a variety of blues and grays that also appear in the other Shakespeares\u2019 clothing. As Will trades the padded, protective doublets and flowing shirts of an unmarried playwright for more tailored, restrictive garb that seems to harden with him, the shades progressively lighten until the dominant color is ash. At the same time, quilted lines and laser scratching on leather evolve into increasingly pronounced slashes, achieved through a period-accurate technique known as pinking.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A costume sketch for William Shakespeare by Turzanska.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Credit: Malgosia Turzanska \/ \u00a9 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Paul Mescal and Turzanska on set.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Photo: Agata Grzybowska \/ \u00a9 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Photo: Agata Grzybowska \/ \u00a9 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A detail of William Shakespeare\u2019s vest.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Photo: Malgosia Turzanska \/ \u00a9 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI was imagining it was coming from the father, those little scratches,\u201d Turzanska says, explaining that she pictured Will\u2019s father, who wears a claw-like toothpick around his neck, physically picking away at his son during the film\u2019s early scenes. \u201cEven the quilting on his doublet\u2014it almost looks like when you scratch the skin without breaking it, and there\u2019s this differentiation of color.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The costume designer adds that those subtle perforations become deeper cuts only when Will begins to doubt his own abilities as a father, and inflicts damage of his own. \u201cGradually, when we see him with the actual pinking on his leather shell, it\u2019s when something switches within him,\u201d Turzanska says, referring to a shift that occurs after Will and Agnes welcome their first baby, Susanna (Bodhi Rae Breathnach).<\/p>\n

Fiona Crombie\u2014who built the Shakespeare family residence and other key structures, including a version of the Globe Theatre, on a backlot at Elstree Studios outside of London\u2014says that she also used the idea that there was \u201ca history of violence\u201d in the home to add depth to her design scheme.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe only had nine weeks to basically turn plywood into a house that feels like it\u2019s always existed,\u201d Crombie says of fashioning the half-timbered Tudor and adjoining glove workshop, where Will, Agnes, and the children live alongside the other Shakespeares before moving to Stratford-upon-Avon. That was achieved through different painting and plastering techniques and strategically placed reclaimed oak, she says, but also through adding fabrics and furnishings that bore signs of extensive use (and misuse).<\/p>\n

\u201cBasically, everything has a scar,\u201d she explains. \u201cAlmost every bowl has got some crack that\u2019s been seamed. There\u2019s cracks in the window panes; there\u2019s missing spindles on the stairs; there\u2019s evidence of where maybe a cup was thrown at the wall. It\u2019s not overt, but there\u2019s a little sense of history in details like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Photo: Fiona Crombie \/ \u00a9 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Photo: Agata Grzybowska \/ \u00a9 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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The exterior of the Shakespeares\u2019 home in Stratford.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Agata Grzybowska<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Crombie, who was nominated for an Oscar for her work on The Favourite<\/em>, has taken on plenty of ambitious projects in her time as a production designer. But she says that, unlike with some of her other films, she wasn\u2019t aiming to create awe-inspiring structures for Hamnet<\/em>. From Agnes\u2019s family farm and the neighboring woods to the Shakespeare family\u2019s home and its seasonal back garden, her goal was to invite viewers to connect with the characters, \u201crather than viewing them from afar, in a time gone by.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhen I read the first draft, I felt this sort of immediate humanity in the script,\u201d she continues. \u201cAnd so I wanted very much to bring the audience close to this family. I didn\u2019t want anything to be arm\u2019s length about it. I wanted to bring them inside those doors and into that house and into that kitchen. And so it was really a case of how do you\u2014in a world where there\u2019s not masses of stuff\u2014make that house and that family feel alive?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Influenced by O\u2019Farrell\u2019s novel, Crombie focused on portraying the home as a hub of activity and general family life. The design process began with plucking references from her extensive location scouting with Zhao and \u017bal, which resulted in low, beamed ceilings throughout the home and workshop; displays of pewter and antiques; and a decorative wall treatment inspired by patterned canvas in the real Shakespeare home in Stratford-upon-Avon. On top of that, Crombie\u2019s team layered in items like drying flowers and herbs in the kitchen, countless sewing tools in the workshop, and stacks of paper and quills where Will works.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not just people sitting around a parlor; there\u2019s almost always a job to do,\u201d Crombie says. \u201cAnd that was something that I really wanted to show\u2014this functioning family\u2014because when that\u2019s dismantled, you care.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Plans for the exterior of the Globe Theatre set.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Credit: Fiona Crombie \/ \u00a9 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Noah Jupe on the Globe set in Hamnet.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/span>Photo: \u00a9Focus Features\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The production designer took a similar approach to recreating the original Globe, where most of Shakespeare\u2019s plays debuted before it burned down in 1613. Playing off of the idea that the venue had been constructed from stolen timber by a fledgling theater company, Crombie used reclaimed oak from France to build a structure based on round barns in upstate New York and reminiscent of the inside of a tree. Her team then filled the back areas with costumes, props, and staging equipment, once again creating a lived-in setting for the film\u2019s actors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The mural on the Globe set.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Photo: Fiona Crombie \/ \u00a9 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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But the crowning touch was an onstage mural of spindly, dense trees that calls to mind Agnes\u2019s beloved woods, and serves as the backdrop for the film\u2019s climactic final scene: a production of Hamlet<\/em> that reunites the grief-stricken couple. \u201cWe didn\u2019t get there straight away, but we kept distilling that theater down to an essential image. And now, I keep seeing that image everywhere, and I\u2019m like, \u2018It\u2019s so clear, it\u2019s so simple, and it\u2019s so evocative,\u2019\u201d Crombie says. \u201cAnd it\u2019s the same with, I think, what Malgosia did. It\u2019s like she stripped it down to the essential.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

Source URL: http:\/\/vogue.com\/article\/hamnet-costume-and-production-design<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TV & Movies How Hamnet\u2019s Costume and Production Designers Brought Shakespeare\u2019s World to Textured Life By Elaina Patton November 27, 2025 Chlo\u00e9 Zhao, Paul Mescal, and Jessie Buckley on the set of Hamnet.Photo: Agata Grzybowska \/ \u00a9 Focus Features \/ Courtesy Everett Collection After a detour into the superhero genre with 2021\u2019s Eternals, Chlo\u00e9 Zhao, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":752498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-752497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-vogue-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=752497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/752498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=752497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=752497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=752497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}