Costume design and marketing for a post-apocalyptic staging of King Lear, from the first moodboard to the trailer.
Four aims set before a single sketch. The cast had to fight, climb and kneel on a scaffold set, so movement came first.
Every piece cut for stage combat, climbing and kneeling.
Layers the cast could wear through long rehearsals under hot lights.
Bring the director's post-apocalyptic world to life.
Let each costume tell the audience who someone is before they speak.
Two actors share the role, tied together by one fur cape. Underneath, one Lear leans warrior (harness, braids, gold armband) and the other leans worn and earthy (mustard shawl, red scarf, harem joggers).
#2E292B · #4A3F3C · #837063 · #C1B8B0Dutch braids, a cross-strapped bodice and a short wrapped warrior skirt. Leather tones and gunmetal, built to fight in.
#30201A · #393938 · #694F41 · #D4CFC1The sharpest silhouette: a long deep-blue coat with a high collar, a corset belt and black leggings.
#23222C · #1F2A6B · #6A5A56 · #B7B2BEThe softest outline in the play: pale, flowing dresses in two options, with grey leggings underneath so she can still move.
#342C21 · #A4917F · #D0C0B2 · #F2EEE8A shared tribe look: layered shirts, harem trousers, scrap-fabric details and dark joggers, with accent colours that separate the groups on stage.
#2F2320 · #3C3C3C · #91897E · #CED1CFFace and body paint mark each tribe on stage. The blue warpaint carries straight through into the trailer and character teaser.
#2B181E · #5A6170 · #2F5DA8 · #D3D4CCPalettes are sampled from Chloe's original moodboards. Tap a sketch to enlarge it.
Pencil designs for the supporting characters, then the finished costumes on the cast, with the blue warpaint mapped out at the fitting.
Pencil designs for Kent, Cordelia, Edgar, Oswald and France, and three costume fittings.
A photoshoot and poster plan to sell a dark, physical version of Shakespeare, with every image built around Lear's two sides: strength and grief.
An abandoned dockside building in Hull, picked as a ready-made apocalyptic set. Props kept simple: Lear's shrine, a length of cloth to suggest a sandstorm behind the cast, and sticks as weapons.
A casual trial shoot around campus with both Lears, before costume day, to test angles and decide which lenses and kit to bring on the day.
A strong, empowering hero portrait of Lear, in the spirit of The Woman King.
Lear's silhouette praying at the shrine of a loved one, to show the emotional side.
A split poster, Spider-Man and Venom style: one strong Lear, one broken.
A bold, single-figure poster that leans into Lear's strength and menace.
With coloured gels for mood.
To carve hard shadows across faces.
A smoke machine for depth and haze.
Chosen after the trial shoot.
The look in motion: the costumes, body paint and set in the character teaser and the company film.
Rebuilt from Chloe's original costume and marketing presentations for Lear.
Costume, marketing or a trailer for your production? Send me a brief and I'll come back with ideas and a plan.