In an exclusive The Art of Costume interview with costume designer Daniel Orlandi, we delve into the creative process behind crafting the vibrant and eclectic costumes for Borderlands. Orlandi shares insights into how the team transformed materials from junkyards into striking psycho outfits and the innovative approach to designing unique, practical costumes for characters like Mad Moxxi and Lilith. He reveals the challenges of balancing game fidelity with actor comfort and discusses the collaborative efforts that brought the film’s visually stunning costumes to life. From the improvisational fittings with Jamie Lee Curtis to the seamless integration of props and costume design, Orlandi provides a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how the costumes in Borderlands were meticulously crafted to enhance the film’s dynamic world.
Spencer Williams: I am thrilled to welcome Borderlands costume designer Daniel Orlandi. I am so excited to have you here. I’ve been wanting to see this film for a long time. I mean… I remember growing up and running off the bus to play Borderlands with my friends. So saying I am excited feels like an understatement. Daniel, you’ve worked on a diverse list of projects. What drew you to the Borderlands film?
Daniel Orlandi: It was something I’d never done before. So when they called me about it, I was thrilled because it was so wild. We really got to use our imaginations— the director, production designer, everyone all working together with the actors to make them into these crazy characters.
Spencer Williams: When I saw that you were attached to this project, I thought that this was a different path for you and that made it all the more exciting.
Daniel Orlandi: I think they wanted something different, too. They wanted something fresh while also speaking to these famous characters.
Spencer Williams: That leads me to my next question. Borderlands is based on a popular game series created by Gearbox Software and published by 2K with a massive fan base. Can you tell us about your preparation and research for this project? I don’t take you for much of a gamer, but I don’t know, maybe you were playing some video games in your rare spare time.
Daniel Orlandi: I’m not a gamer. I’ve never been a gamer, but what I did do was spend hours watching people play the game on YouTube. It was really fun! And I didn’t have to learn any of the controls. I could just watch it. It was really a process meant to understand these different worlds, these crazy characters and how excited they get with the weapons. As you watch it more and more, you just get it.
Spencer Williams: Borderlands was directed by Eli Roth, who is known for his unique style, especially in the world of horror. What was it like collaborating with him on this project?
Daniel Orlandi: Eli hadn’t done a film like this before, so it was a fun experience for both of us. The challenge was to take inspiration from the game and then adapt it to the actors playing these characters, allowing them to embody the roles in their own unique way. I’ve worked on many films about real people, and I prefer not to have actors simply doing impersonations. I want them to truly feel like those characters, and I think we achieved that. We collaborated closely with every actor to ensure they had input on what they liked and what felt right for them. Then there are the practical considerations, like needing to climb a wall, jump into things, get wet, and run through gullies. All of that factors into the costume design process.
Spencer Williams: Let’s talk about some of the characters and Borderlands costumes. The story revolves around Lilith, played by the incredible Cate Blanchett. She’s a bounty hunter with a fascinating history. She also sees a lot of action. Her character is doing lots of stunts, jumps, rolls, falls, and explosions. How did you bring her costume to life and what was that collaboration like between you and Cate Blanchett?
Daniel Orlandi: We started by creating mood boards that combined elements from the game character with influences from fashion, military, and biker styles. Our goal was to design a single costume for her to wear throughout the entire movie. It needed to be something she could move and run in comfortably, especially since we were filming during the pandemic. The first step was making pants and boots, which we sent to her to try on. We had a Zoom call where she tested the fit, and it was like, “Oh yeah, they work. Can they be a little higher?” That kind of feedback was invaluable. This was our initial contact after she reviewed the designs, and everyone—including the producers, Lionsgate, and the game developers—was on board with the look. We never really changed it from there.
Spencer Williams: Wow. I can’t imagine how difficult that would be… fitting costumes over a web camera. The Borderlands costumes see a lot of action too, so it could all go wrong very quickly.
Daniel Orlandi: Yeah, it got even more complicated. It was funny because some of the actors then came to Budapest, and several of the actors worked three days after our first fitting with them. Challenges make it more interesting and fun.
Spencer Williams: Borderlands has a distinctive style, as everyone knows, and Pandora is known for its colorful yet very toxic landscape. Things are very run down. How did you and your team collaborate with other departments to bring this world to life, such as hair, makeup, and production design as well?
Daniel Orlandi: Yeah, and props, right, with all the guns and everything. We had an amazing team. We set up our own department and crafted everything in Budapest for the film, alongside the production designer and the props team. We collaborated closely on the masks, guns, and all the accessories. The production design heavily influenced our work, especially for the extras when they entered the city. Then there were the psychos in the underground mines, which was a cool shoot.
Spencer Williams: That was a fun yet terrifying scene, with a lot of costumes involved.
Daniel Orlandi: Absolutely! The days with the most costumes are the most enjoyable for me during a movie shoot.
Spencer Williams: Ariana Greenblatt plays Tiny Tina, a very colorful character who also loves blowing stuff up. She’s also very layered while being young and fun.
Daniel Orlandi: We wanted her to be a zany, wild character, and we definitely took inspiration from the game. But we needed a way for her to carry her bombs, so I came up with the idea of a little raincoat—like a child’s raincoat—that would reveal her bombs when she opened it. She came in, full of energy and excitement, jumping up and down with our designs. It was interesting because I did the preliminary sketches myself, which are just my little drawings, but they prefer the big, computer-animated illustrations. I couldn’t get the proportions right until I saw her in real life—how short the skirt should be, the length of the sweatpants, and whether she should wear two different shoes. During the first fitting, everything was just pinned in place as we figured out these proportions, like the length of the skirt and raincoat. Looking at the first fitting photos, you might wonder what was going on! But by the second fitting, it all came together. Her costume was all about proportions while ensuring she could run and walk in two different shoes without any discomfort. It was so much fun to work with her because she’s this little force of nature.
Spencer Williams: Speaking of blowing things up, my favorite aspect of costume design is always the aging and dyeing of costumes… the breakdown! As we were talking about, the psychos and raiders convey how harsh Pandora is, and you could see it in their costumes. Can you tell me about the aging and dyeing process?
Daniel Orlandi: Designing the psychos was such a fun process because we got to use all sorts of materials from junkyards. One of our crew members even brought in old tire treads from her father’s garage. We placed these materials on mannequins, piecing them together, and then our leatherworker and age-dyer would paint them. We also found an incredible artist in Budapest who created Basquiat-like designs on the backs of jackets. We would experiment by stamping different items and seeing what worked. We were fortunate to have an incredible age-dyer and leatherworker. The talent in Budapest is amazing.
Spencer Williams: That’s the best part. We also met Mad Moxxi, who runs a unique bar in Sanctuary. Sanctuary’s setting features a diverse range of costumes, so when I saw that, I was like, wow, there are a lot of costumes here in Sanctuary. This feels like a real town. Could you share how you and your team designed the costumes for all the background characters in Borderlands?
Daniel Orlandi: Eli said he wanted it to have a Fellini-esque feel, so we had some sort of Fellini-esque people. Actually, a character in the bar is inspired by this Fellini movie called Toby Dammit from the 60s. We also wanted them to be vault hunters as well, so we had to bridge it all together and create this diverse crowd of people. They were really fun to do because we had several hundred extras every day while we were shooting those scenes. I love being on set on those kinds of days.
Spencer Williams: The final character I want to ask you about is Dr. Tannis, played by the one and only Jamie Lee Curtis. Seeing her in her Dr. Tannis costume, you kind of knew who she was right away, but it still felt suited to her. What was it like working on this character?
Daniel Orlandi: She was probably the hardest character to do—to make it from the game to Jamie and work in the movie. We went through a million designs. It was a metamorphosis from the first ideas to what it became, and she had a lot of input. She’s a force of nature, a cheerleader, and the most fun to be on set with. After a really long 12 or 13-hour day, she’s out there cheering everybody up and taking pictures. Her father’s family is from Hungary, so she charmed all the ladies in our workroom by speaking a few words of Hungarian to them. It was the same thing with her making the character. She had so much to do in the film, so we had to make sure she could move in the pants and the jacket.
Of course, it was her idea to have the little band from the game character under her jacket. When it opens, you see it, and she’s like, “Please, can we have the band?” We put it in because I like to make the actors feel like the characters. For me, it’s great. I love actors. I started as a set designer and got a job working for a costume designer, and then realized how much I loved working with actors.
Spencer Williams: It’s a beautiful thing to be able to collaborate with these actors. The goal is to make them feel immersed in their character, to bring these stories off the page. Even a little band that means a lot to Jamie Lee Curtis can help her transform into this character.
Daniel Orlandi: I love to give actors something that you might not even see while watching the film, something that makes them feel like the character. It’s so great in a fitting when you hit on something, and it’s like, “Yes, that’s it. That’s my character.” And it could be the smallest thing.
Spencer Williams: Oh, that’s so fun. I am excited to see this film again. What do you hope the audience takes away from it?
Daniel Orlandi: I think people should go and just have a really fun time because it’s outrageous, funny, exciting, and visually stimulating. It’s something people haven’t seen before. I’m excited for people to see it.
Spencer Williams: It’s very transportive. It just takes you away for that block of time. I couldn’t agree more. Costume designer Daniel Orlandi, thank you so much for talking with us. This has been so much fun.
