A Costume is Worth a Hundred Words 👨‍🎤

Take a look at Nebby and Ariana’s fashionable fits in Out of This World – you can’t miss em with their rockstar-inspired designs, 80s and 90s-era attire, and retro sci-fi callbacks. But if you look even closer at each costume, you’ll see that every detail showcases the characters’ unique personalities. There is a clear artistic and narrative intent in the design.

This week, Los Angeles-based costume designers and power couple Elias Martian and Orchid Satellite take us into their vibrant and statement-making world. There, we chat about how their retro sci-fi and gender-defying approach to the costumes and characters influenced the overall look of the film, and the importance of collaboration when making the perfect costume.

Elias and Orchid, we are so excited to have our favorite costume designing power couple on board this week to talk about Out of This World! Your visionary fashion styling and costume design has gotten you clients like Doja Cat, Ariana Grande, Rico Nasty, and Dorian Electra, among many others. Where does the majority of your fashion and costume inspo come from, and how do you decide the perfect outfit for your clients and characters?

Elias: I think character building is one of the best aspects of this job, whether it’s something we are styling (choosing clothes that have already been created) or designing costumes. I like to collaborate with the other departments a lot when creating looks too. It’s really important to know what the lighting will be like and create a head to toe experience with the makeup team. Reading the script or treatment is so important too, because you might have the best ideas or clothes to use, but they might not work for the action of the scene. It’s really important to have a plan for being able to get multiple takes in a look, even if there is fire, slime, rain or blood! We really like sourcing unique and interesting pieces, so sometimes that means vintage hunting, working with a number of designers or making it ourselves. I want to make our work look like a “visual feast” - something that is impressive at first glance but once you look at it a bit longer there are details that keep you engaged and spark joy.

Orchid: I think the best stylists approach all of their work with storytelling - rather than trends in fashion. Inspiration can come from anywhere, and a big source of inspiration for me are the clients and talents that we work with. It’s really important to work as a team, and I feel so lucky to have such inspiring peers that I get to work with creatively. The early creative process is one of the most fun parts of the job for me.

It really does take a collaborative process to the storytelling to pull off a project like Out of This World. The film has a distinct visual world filled with a retro sci-fi aesthetic. As lovers of color, kitsch, and maximalism, what initially drew you to work on the film?

Elias: Orchid and I call ourselves the Martian Family, which initially started as a joke but when we got married we made it official! I have always had a thing for retro futurism, from plastic molded furniture of the 70s to weird space toys for kids from the 50s and 60s - you name it, I collect it. We are also big fans of Star Trek, Barbarella, and too many Sci-Fi B movies to name here. Anything in this genre is right up our alley and we’d jump at anything in this universe (or beyond, haha!).

Orchid: It was actually our good friend Ally McGillicuddy, who did the makeup and SPFX for the film, that initially showed us they were looking for a costume designer. I remember being so excited to see a film that encapsulated my style so well; I reached out at that exact moment while I was on set busy dressing people. I’d never wanted to work on something so badly.

Costume Designs from an early OOTW Lookbook

Speaking of encapsulating your style, we were floored by your design for Nebby as a colorful and latex-clad alien marvel, surpassing gender conventions. What was your inspo and approach to their design?

Elias: When the opportunity came up to pitch the character design for Nebby, we knew this was big. I really wanted to start from a place of fun and authenticity. Nebby is a collector and a curious soul with lots in their mind and in their space. We wanted their costume to reflect their fun spirit and desire to be a cool rock star. Using the rock n roll jacket as a jumping off point, we created a jacket with 3 peaked lapel points instead of two, using futuristic reflective vinyl and rhinestones to make it look and shine like a star. For the bodysuit, we knew that the material needed to scream “Out Of This World'' and there was only one solution - latex. Latex is shiny and fun and form fitting, and currently having a bigger moment in the fashion world, once only being relegated to fetish wear, which was definitely not what we were going for. We wanted Nebby to be able to bounce around and move while looking badass so we took a lot of inspiration from David Bowie’s costume designer Kansai Yamamoto as well as Pam Hogg’s reflective bodysuits. The bodysuit design we settled on was really sparked by Nebby’s abilities to manipulate electricity, so it has two lightning bolts creating an awesome “V”. We also really liked the character “Buddy Blue ' from Rainbow Brite and used elements from their character designs in the hips and inflatable star belt, but took it to the next level of plastic fantastic.

I was really excited to be working with a non-binary actor and clothing their body in a way that helped them connect to the character and feel empowered in their skin. I am the only transgender man working in costuming in Los Angeles (that I know of) and I was really excited to create this character that transcends gender. I wanted to create a costume that Bex could comfortably wear a chest binder underneath to create the body shape they wanted.

Orchid: I also feel really excited to help support and extend visual platforms for non binary people (and aliens). A lot of our biggest inspiration in fashion and film come from individuals that have broken gender barriers, David Bowie being one of them for this character. I think a lot of sci-fi allows us to look at our humanness and gender from a different perspective, which is beautiful. And I wanted Nebby’s character to reflect this.

Wow, it’s amazing to hear the thought process behind Nebby’s costume and how it fits the character. How was your approach to Nebby’s design different from the earthers, Ariana and BeBe?

Elias: I think the big constant that runs through Out of this World is authenticity. We wanted all the characters to really seem authentic and true to themselves. For Ariana, she was one of those cool rock star girls, who waited tables on the side. She reminded us of some of our favorite servers at Swingers in LA or Saturn Cafe in Santa Cruz. She was the type to wear the uniform, but also try to make it her own as much as possible, with a cool jacket, pins, and accessories. We had this incredible 1980s beaded/sequined bomber jacket that said “SAVE THE PLANET” and we just knew this piece had to go with her character. Ariana was definitely the type to have her feet on the ground and her head in the sky - rooted to earth but looking for a cosmic connection. I created some custom Doc Martens boots to look like the lunar surface, and was really pleased with the result. We sourced an awesome vintage waitress dress, and dyed BeBe’s chef coat to match.

For Bebe’s character, we really wanted her to look like a chef but also have elements that called back to that incredible poster for Ariana’s band. We wanted her character to not be super feminine since she was the leader of the kitchen/diner. We used an awesome 90s striped tank and baggy pants with a cool bandana to keep her hair back (food safety, ok?). We also used the rubber kitchen shoe version of chelsea boots to tie in with the intergalactic rock n roll diner aesthetic.

Orchid: I felt really connected with Ariana’s character, as growing up I was a punk girl with my head in the stars, who absolutely believed in aliens. I wanted both Ariana and BeBe to feel as real as possible, and to be wearing clothing that made sense for them to be able to access, but also had no specific time or place that you could pinpoint. Although we definitely wanted to give them both a 90s feel to their style.

Bex Taylor-Klaus and Ariana DiLorenzo by Michael Arcell

All the details you’re mentioning really come through when looking at the final costumes. What were your favorite parts of each of the costumes?

Elias: Nebby - the helmet! It was an absolute feat to engineer the helmet with no cords coming out of it and to get it to go on and off easily and stay in place when on. I spent an incredible amount of time creating prototypes and junking them. I even broke the backup helmet the night before filming, so the helmet we used for Nebby had to work and be perfect. I probably spent over 10 hours on set just polishing the acrylic because the inline LED lights we used basically would show any tiny scratch.

Ariana - moon boots! Nebby got “moon boots” and so Ariana needed her own pair obviously, but in a more earthling/punk rock kind of way. That piece was so fun to customize.

BeBe - I love the 90s tank top, so much cooler than your standard white ribbed tank.

Orchid: I also loved the space helmets, and it was really fun to decide what kind of helmet we were going to design, taking a lot of inspiration from 60s sci-fi and designers like Pierre Cardin.

We also had a blast designing the backpack for Nebby with our good friends at Mokuyobi. They literally describe their brand as ‘Out of this world’, for ‘super beings of earth and beyond’, so we just had to include their work in this film. We got to work in their warehouse with them, and came up with the perfect design together that encapsulates Nebby’s style and theirs.

I think for me though, I truly loved picking out the pins and details for Ariana’s outfit. We spent a long time sourcing online and at flea markets for strange, music related, and space themed pins. Ariana and I selected the final pins together, and I remember we both loved the one that says ‘Every cloud has a radioactive lining’. There is also a small heart pin by her nametag, that is a secret nod to the tin man in Wizard of Oz. And she has very tiny gummy bear earrings, which is a constant that runs through the film. I love hiding easter eggs like this in my costuming work.

As a costume design power couple, walk us through your own collaborative process with each other. How do you divide up the responsibilities?

Elias: I am so grateful to be able to work together - it makes me so happy every day and sure beats the time in our lives when we were working for other people. Orchid usually takes on the responsibility of talking to clients, scheduling, and doing all of the logistical things that keep our business alive. She is truly a boss babe and owns every second of it. We like to go shopping together and usually we will split up and take on half each, meeting at the end with an armful of goodies to decide if we want them or not. I usually do the design and creation of things. The sewing, painting, building, etc. of all the stuff and costume creation. I also put together a lot of our moodboards and help pull inspiration.

Orchid: He couldn’t have said it better. I feel very lucky to be creating as a team together, and it’s not as common in our industry, or any for that matter. Elias is a very talented designer, and many of our friends in the industry call him ‘the idea guy’ -- he’s always doing multiple projects at once. I come from a fashion buying and merchandising background, so I love the process of sourcing and finding special pieces for clients. And I definitely love the process of pre- production and getting ideas in motion. We have a really organic and fun way of dividing the labor.

With names like ‘Satellite’ and ‘Martian’, we have to ask – do you believe in aliens?

Elias: Absolutely. I feel like it would be incredibly naive to think we are the only intelligent creatures in a universe this big. Too many people have had experiences with extraterrestrials/UFOs for me to think it's only science fiction. Many of the people with these experiences weren’t looking for or wanting contact with an alien species, and I believe them.

Orchid: My dad partially named me Satellite because he wanted me to feel connected with the universe, and think bigger than our planet, and I really do. I’ve always loved aliens, ever since I was a little girl. I’ve always felt that there’s something more out there, and I think film is the best visual medium to help inspire us to keep searching for it.

Check out some art and artists that inspired the film’s mood board!

Photo by Kelsey Talton (L), Photo by Wussy Mag

If Elias and Orchid’s Out of This World costumes blew you away, explore more of their world of color, kitsch, and retrofits through some of their most iconic looks!