Step into the delectable world of Wonka as we embark on a behind-the-scenes journey with Academy Award-Winner Lindy Hemming, the costume designer behind the enchanting costumes that bring this whimsical film to life. In this exclusive interview, Lindy Hemming unveils the secrets and inspirations woven into the fabric of Wonka, sharing insights into the creative process, collaborations with director Paul King, and the meticulous craftsmanship behind Timothée Chalamet’s portrayal of the beloved character. Join us as we unwrap the chocolatey charm of the costumes in Wonka with the visionary Lindy Hemming.
Spencer Williams: Lindy, this is a real pleasure! Wonka was such a fun, exciting film. Let’s start with the big picture first. Helen Colvig designed the costumes for Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory in 1971. Gabriella Pescucci did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2005. And now… you designed the costumes for Wonka in 2023! With a legacy as widely known as Willy Wonka, how did you approach this project?
Lindy Hemming: Like every other costume that you do, especially if it’s an iconic character, you try to look for a way to access the character. There’s a backstory to our Willy Wonka, so we have an idea of who he is and where he comes from, and it’s alluded to a little bit with the flashbacks on the barge. We imagined that his costume came together because of his love of magic and maybe from a magician-type world. His scarves are part of the magic trick that he’s been trying to do, and of course, it goes wrong quite often. So that’s the way we began to build up who he was and where his stuff had come from.
The origins of his coat likely trace back to some magician, and the same could be said for his top hat, even if they weren’t acquired from the exact same source. It all belongs to that world. As for his remaining attire, according to the script, he claims to have procured his trousers from a mailman in Minsk. Being a novelist, he probably cherishes items that have a story. His socks might have been knitted by his mother many years ago. And then there’s his splendid knitted waistcoat adorned with intricate hand patterns and various colors.
I’m confident his mother or perhaps even his grandmother crafted that piece. The details are a bit hazy. That’s how we envisioned the character. An iconic item is something universally recognizable, but the challenge lies in using that knowledge, your imagination, and the exquisite Timothée Chalamet to create something new. To the casual observer, it might not appear entirely novel, but to us, Timothée, and Paul, it represents a fresh perspective—a reinterpretation of the familiar.
Spencer Williams: It was very fun to get to know this whole new world. For you, this is not your first time working with Paul King actually, nor is it your second time. I’d love to talk about your collaboration with director Paul King and how that working relationship translated into Wonka.
Lindy Hemming: It all began with Paddington, and, well, I sense—it’s one of those inexplicable connections. He revels in fabric, adores color, has a passion for textiles and textures, and genuinely appreciates people. That’s my ideal collaborator, my perfect world. He’s incredibly open to collaboration, just as I prefer to work. We can spend hours delving into discussions about characters, the actors who portray them, and the nuances of their personalities.
He might be one of the most accessible directors I’ve worked with. I believe his affinity for the world of costumes stems from his wife’s background—she used to be a hat maker, an artist in that craft. He values handmade clothes, and textiles, and simply appreciates the artistry. He willingly immerses himself in conversations, inspecting and engaging in discussions about design choices.
He embraces your perspective, understanding that you have a comprehensive overview of what everyone should be wearing at different moments. He’s remarkably collaborative, not just on costumes but also on set design and locations. It might sound overly positive—I was told I sounded like a “lovey” yesterday, just praising everyone. But the truth is, it’s a beautiful working relationship in genuinely favorable circumstances. He seems to select actors with similar positive energy, and the moment they join the project, they catch the same infectious spirit. It’s simply fabulous.
Spencer Williams: As the audience, you could feel the joy of while watching this film. There’s just a harmony to it where it just feels like everyone’s happy to be there, and the story is just joyous and positive.
Let’s dive specifically into Wonka’s signature look. We touched on it a little bit, but collaborating with Timothée to bring this iconic character to life… tell me the story behind the signature look?
Lindy Hemming: To be honest, I initially had two coat ideas in mind—a red one and an equally vibrant, long green overcoat that I fancied. However, the latter got lost in the mix. The key to my success, or perhaps sheer luck, was the incredible team I had in every department. I had fabulous people on my team; it was just a marvelous thing. I was fortunate to have a talented fabric dyer, a fabric printer, and an exceptional embroiderer on my team. For his coat, we settled on velvet, believing it was the perfect choice. My rationale for velvet, as opposed to other fabrics, was that it could be lit in a magical way.
We opted for a pink cherry hue through meticulous dyeing, wanting a color that was not quite red but more of a pink cherry shade. I personally loved it. the requirement was not to make it look too period because then he would end up looking like Darcy or somebody. Timothée is so physical; there had to be enough weight to it so that it would fly. The fabric needed enough weight for movement but not too much to avoid it becoming fluffy.
The velvet panels were cut and dyed, with a deliberate effort to create bald seams and an appearance of age. Our embroiderer started working on samples for additional embroidery to infuse a touch of theatrical magic. The process was time-consuming, involving breakdown, distress, and the careful application of embroidery. Simultaneously, we designed a unique fabric for the coat’s lining, anticipating Timothée’s dynamic movements. I envisioned a North African print to add visual interest during twirls and dance sequences. The coat slowly came together, and the idea of embroidery added an extra layer of theatricality and magic.
As for the undershirt, we wanted something unique, so we ventured to a market in the North of England. We stumbled upon handmade Chinese shirting fabrics woven from linen and cotton. The undershirt fabric had to be printed to match the real fabric, adding another layer of complexity to the process.
While the costume process was lengthy, especially with other costumes in the mix, Wonka’s look was established fairly early. The hat, a complex endeavor, involved referencing collapsible top hats and magician’s hats with painted demons or explosions. We enlisted Jane Smith, a renowned artisan, to handcraft his hats in various degrees of wear and tear. It was a never-ending process of creating different versions—perfect, worn, and sat-on—to achieve the desired effect. The intricacies of Wonka’s costume, with its layers of thought and detail, made the entire journey quite intriguing.
Spencer Williams: How many hats do you think there were?
Lindy Hemming: Well, in fact, more hats were needed because they had to be handed over to the props department. There’s a shot, which I believe is still in the film, where he looks up through his hat. He spots Bleacher, the nasty Mr. Bleacher, looking down at him, if I recall correctly. His top hat not only had to collapse but also open at the top—lots of intricate details. Therefore, we had to create additional hats for the props department to use in different scenes.
Spencer Williams: There is never just one hat!
Lindy Hemming: The fabric swatching team also went out in search of an exceptionally thin cotton lawn. The goal was to create scarves that weren’t bulky but could use a substantial amount of fabric. The idea was to make it appear like the scarves were endlessly flowing during his tricks, only to be wound around his neck. They discovered some fantastic fabrics, but one of the best finds was a piece he wears often, adorned with stars and lightning bolts.
He wears it quite frequently, and it happens to be an old piece from Liberties of London, a renowned fabric shop. It was a fantastic find in Wembley, where they were selling off old pieces of various designer fabrics. This particular bolt of fabric, with its magic symbols, had ended up there. It became one of his primary scarves, adding a touch of enchantment to his look. And so, it continued in that manner, but you’d say that the gods were with us in these discoveries.
Spencer Williams: Color seems to have played an integral role in your process. Tell me about how you incorporated color into the costumes.
Lindy Hemming: The freedom to use color came from Paul King. Paul loves color! Every piece of the chocolatiers’ tailored wools for their suits had to be dyed to a specific color because Paul wanted them to be one green, one blue, and one yellow. That was the color of their clothes, and that coordinates with their chocolate shop color, with the color of the chocolate wrappers, with everything they have. So, once that started, I think there was a moment when we knew the key, and it was going to be colorful—that it was going to be a more heightened reality and that the characters would be broad.
Spencer Williams: Designing the costumes for Wonka seemed like a lot of hard work, which leads me to the next character I want to talk about, Mrs. Scrubbit, who also goes through a lot of hard work. I’m a big Olivia Colman fan, and she actually was quoted as saying, “It was so much fun going for my first fitting with Lindy Hemming. The beautiful drawings of all the characters around the room, the fabrics and swatches—it was like going into an incredible haberdashery.” Tell me, what was it like working with Olivia on designing the Mrs. Scrubbit character?
Lindy Hemming: Well, initially, I didn’t know who Mrs. Scrubbit would be, so all my reference pictures were of landladies, awful washerwomen, and people with peculiar teeth. I began drawing from those references, showing her these pictures, half expecting her to leave. However, she loved it because she was a consummate madwoman. Nearly everything she wears, about 99 percent, was made from scratch. We hand-knitted or hand-printed almost everything. Our printer worked on fabulous 1930s-style dress fabrics but in unconventional colors like lilacs and acid greens. After making everything, we washed and dipped the costumes to make them look aged. Even her kimono, especially the one with the biggest bosoms, is entirely handmade and hand-printed. People often think of costume design as period costumes with bustles and silk, but my favorites are the hyper-real, ordinary people’s costumes like Olivia Colman’s. I truly loved her costumes.
Spencer Williams: It was terrific. It was very immersive, where you felt the dirt and the grime when you were in their washhouse.
Lindy Hemming: There aren’t many actresses who would wear a big padding underneath and come out of the fitting room saying, “Oh, yes! I love all this!” We then built the costumes over the top of that. She’s a fantastic person.
Spencer Williams: Lindy, this has been so lovely. To wrap up, what do you hope the audience will take away from Wonka through the costumes and the overall film?
Lindy Hemming: Overall, the key theme is kindness to other people. Humanity in your behavior, maintaining kindness even in the face of horrible things. Laughter, joy, a magical world—joy for children and adults. It’s similar to what I’d say about Paddington. The biggest thing is the overwhelming way that kindness wins out. Being kind, having fun, singing, dancing, and joy triumph in the film. Of course, I hope they like the costumes, but Nathan Crowley’s sets are just unbelievable. All those exteriors, the streets, the pillars, the pretend front of St. Paul’s Cathedral—all made. Every interior, everything. It’s remarkable how it looks like they filmed in Bath, but when we did go to Bath, we didn’t film anything like that.
Spencer Williams: That’s incredible. It was such a fun, positive experience, and I had a smile on my face the whole time. A big part of that was the storytelling through the costumes. Costume designer Lindy Hemming, thank you so much for talking with me. This has been wonderful.
Lindy Hemming: Thank you for talking to me and for being knowledgeable about what you were talking about!
