In Mark Anthony Green’s Opus, out tomorrow, Alfred Moretti (John Malkovich) is a legendary Bowie-esque pop-rock legend who is finally releasing new music after three decades of radio silence. To honor the momentous occasion, a group of journalists, television hosts, and influencers (including Ayo Edebiri, Juliette Lewis, and Murray Bartlett) are invited to join Moretti at his remote southwest compound to get an exclusive first listen. This being a horror film, things go south rather quickly: We soon learn his seemingly-chic compound is actually more of a creepy cult. (His devoted followers even call themselves “levellists.”)
For costume designer Shirley Kurata, the new A24 horror film came with an interesting task: She had to find a way to build a wardrobe for all of the characters that were equal parts glamorous, yet a little gory too. “With horror, you have to get multiples of everything, because there’s blood and all that,” says Kurata, who has also costumed films such as Everything Everywhere All at Once. “But [characters in horror are] not usually in fancy clothes—so that was a fun challenge to do.” (She also only had a month to costume the whole film—another hurdle to overcome.)
Naturally, her research began with the main character, musical superstar Moretti who has a sinister secret. Kurata cited style icons such as Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Prince, and Elton John as references when building out his glamorous, dressy wardrobe, which includes bejeweled suits and sarong-style skirts. For Kurata, it was less about trying to replicate an existing look, and more about finding an amalgamation of pieces that make a performer a true star. “[The director Mark Anthony Green] wanted to make sure that the costumes didn’t reflect someone we already know,” says Kurata. “But I was really inspired by Brian Eno’s costumes from the seventies, and the Bowie glam-rock era. It was a mix of all of that.”
When we first meet Moretti, he is dressed in an impeccably-tailored brown suit with dramatic crystal embellishments along the lapel. “I bought existing suits and tweaked them,” says Kurata of his suiting. “We added flares to the pant, or appliqués. We made them feel like fully custom pieces—there was a big Liberace influence.” Punctuating his tailoring were theatrical accessories like his signature platform boots, including styles by Rick Owens. “John [Malkovich] was so game to wear them—he told me he used to wear platform boots back in the day.”
Throughout the film, Moretti’s wardrobe only gets more over-the-top. When he performs for the group of journalists at his compound, he is seen wearing a custom futuristic look by threeASFOUR, including a golden shielded hood that seems from outer space. “It looked like armor, but it s actually more of a vinyl, so it was more bendable and he could move around,” says Kurata. Taking such practical considerations into account was also true for his climactic finale look. Without ruining the ending, there is a scene where Moretti’s draped white ensemble catches fire; Kurata had to find a design and fabric that would offer the right amount of flammability. “Silks burn too fast, so we used a cotton-velvet,” she says. “We tested a bunch of different fabrics with the pyro guy.”
But Kurata did not only have one fabulous main character to dress: There were also 200 cult members to outfit. The costume designer zeroed in on giving the spooky followers matching looks that were all about rigid uniformity—all designed in varying shades of indigo. “It wasn’t too representative of a specific existing cult,” says Kurata of the costumes. “There’s also an art to indigo dying—the Japanese take it really seriously—and we thought that s something that the cult would be into. We hired a dyer that was working hours and hours just dying things—mostly secondhand or thrifted items.”
There was also the question of giving the imperiled journalists, influencers, and TV hosts at the compound unique personalities with their clothes. For Edebiri’s character, for instance, Kurata favored a smart and preppy look. (When we first meet her, she is wearing a colorful Bode sweater vest.) “We were going for a Black Ivy look, says the costume designer. For the talk show host character portrayed by Lewis, Kurata leaned into a more flashy—and admittedly “tacky”—aesthetic. While their fates in the film shall remain a secret, one thing is for sure: They all looked damn good while screaming for their lives.
