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In the opening moments of one of the trailers for The Matrix Resurrections, a voice says, « We can’t see it, but we’re all caught up in these weird repetitive loops. » At that moment, a SWAT team kicks in a door and finds a character in front of a wall in a sleek black catsuit – and anyone familiar with the Matrix universe gets goosebumps because we’ve seen this look before. Even at the beginning of the original 1999 film, which begins with Carrie-Anne Moss in black latex, it was clear that The Matrix was going to be an exercise in style. We hope Resurrections – the first return to the haunted quasi-digital universe in 20 years – is no different.
It’s hard to underestimate the ripple effect The Matrix had on filmmaking, fashion and pop culture . Whether you’re a science fiction fan or not, the original trilogy has the way movies are made, the way we see action sequences on camera, and (thanks to the original costume design by Kym Barrett) changed the way we think about what superheroes we should wear. Who could forget Trinity’s catsuits? Jada Pinkett Smith as Niobe in these extraordinary sunglasses that defy gravity? The many, many floor-length coats in unforgettable finishes like crocodile or lacquer? And when we see these characters outside of the « matrix » in the « real world » – if you don’t already know, take a look, because it is far too complex to explain them here – they are in this completely earthy- Crispy sweaters and cuddly layers that speak for our COVID-infected home office era as well as for every post-apocalyptic dystopia.
After the many foamy, Southern California-inspired movie fashions we saw in the ’90s (think Clueless or Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion), The Matrix offered a gothic, futuristic, luxurious hacker-core style Vision – one that relied on underground cultures, raver fashion and BDSM influences. The result was a timeless vision that is just as relevant today as it was in 1999.
But of course there is a big difference between 2021 and 1999. Social media, September 11th wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the rise of cyber terrorism, social justice movements, the Kardashians, climate change – the world has changed dozens of times over the year over the past two decades, so it feels like a return The Matrix is both nostalgic and exciting. In advance, BAZAAR.com speaks to the new film’s costume designer, Lindsay Pugh, to find out more about what we can expect from the film and whether fashion is actually advancing or whether we are just caught in « those weird repetitive loops ». Let’s see how deep the rabbit hole goes.
The Matrix is a thing of its own, and I think it has its roots in my previous work with Lana [Wachowski] on Sense8 and learning over time in the we worked together on what she likes and what’s going on in her intelligent brain. As a costume designer, it is our job to create from what is presented to us in the script. While actors are cast in specific roles for whatever reason, we can design anything that is of interest to us.
It depends on what the script asks me to do. When we played something in a historical location, I look at costumes in museums, go to portrait galleries, look into history and then take my references from them. Then I create mood boards with color references and fabric samples and use them to build a world. When the script asks me to create something out of nothing, I go everywhere – in nature, in architecture – and see what things are connected to the world I read about.
It depends on whether you are inside or outside the matrix. Inside, we are pretty much on the same path as we see and know it because that is our matrix. When we are outside of the Matrix [this time for resurrections] I thought that there should be no more seeing dystopia or a Matrix covered in war. I thought there should be a little bit of charm and opportunity and a good life.
The original Matrix was huge and a huge pop culture moment in our entire lives. I absolutely had to refer to that and show respect. Although we’ve moved on and Resurrections was 20 years ago, Resurrections isn’t a direct link to the first films. We’re not crediting The Matrix Revolutions [the last film in the original trilogy] and we’re moving into Resurrections. I wanted to be very respectful of the mood of the original films. It would be a lot if I reinvented the wheel. And it wasn’t necessary either.
All productions are super secret. We don’t want to spoil the show. There was a lot of secrecy because people were more interested. We just had to be very careful not to let anything out.
There were a few things that some of them really loved, but the cast was really good. However, we have negotiated a few socks.
They were just socks and not really important to the story. But they were made of very beautiful wool, and they were beautiful. Feeling good is everything. A nice pair of socks is a nice thing.
The statement leather coats people remember are usually Morpheus’ ones from the first Matrix. As you have probably realized, we have a different Morpheus this time around. Hence, its iteration gave us an opportunity to change how it looked in this film. There were other things too. There were certain things in this movie that made a nod to the original movie, and one of them was the outerwear silhouettes.
Yes. When you thought about how to approach this movie, sunglasses were a big deal. It’s an integral part of how The Matrix looks. I got in touch with a great designer, Tom Davies from London, and we worked together. He came up with some fantastic designs that are an evolution of the glasses from the first film. … I don’t know if the average person would wear some of these frames, but I would wear them on occasion.
Hopefully! There are some very strong female leads out there, and when they hook into the Matrix they look great. There’s a character named Lexy, and he’s wearing this short, asymmetrical black cardigan dress that works really well. It’s smart, straightforward, and wearable today.
She’s the same character, but we’re 20 years different, and Carrie-Ann is 20 years different too. We keep the essential style. She still likes motorcycles – she’s still that person at heart – but we superficially change this style here and there. I really like the biker jacket she ends up wearing and I like the jewelry.
It comes with character development – there are these pieces that Trinity has picked up over the years. I wanted to develop it to give it some strength. It is certainly not the centerpiece of their costume, but rather part of their story.
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