The stars of Dune loved (and hated) their iconic fixed suits

Dune It has given pop culture so much stuff: giant sandworms, the Litany Against Fear, the “spice” as a metaphor for the drug, and the distilling suit. One of the ideas that Frank Herbert paid particular attention to in his notes and his 1965 novel was the stillsuit, an outfit designed to retain and recycle the wearer’s bodily moisture. Stillsuits allows Herbert to tell a story about how to survive in the most dangerous environment in his books – a ruthless desert across the planet that also uplifts people. (Most importantly, you can poop in an immobile suit instead of taking it off when nature calls.)

For Denis Villeneuve’s stunning film adaptation, costume designers Jacqueline West and Bob Morgan had a lot of work ahead of them. Unlike much of the movie’s wardrobe (the dark wool suits of House Atreides or the insect-inspired garb of the Harkonnen), the set suits are a vital part of the lore, described in great detail both in novels as in Herbert’s notes. The stillsuit was, according to Morgan, the “central suit” of the film. It had to look good on all cast members and possibly be functional enough that artists don’t hate wearing it during production in the real-world Jordanian deserts.

West and Morgan accomplished the first with poise: Still images look great on screen. The latter, they told Polygon, got some mixed results.

“You know, I’ve heard different actors say different things,” Morgan says, laughing. “I listened to an interview with Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem. [Bardem] I was saying ‘OMG I’m so comfortable. I loved. I loved using it. ‘ And Josh Brolin says, ‘I don’t know which one you have!’ ”.

Image: Warner Bros./HBO Max

According to West, the creation DuneStillsuits were an incredibly complicated process that began with lengthy conversations with concept artist Keith Christensen and a prototype from sculptor José Fernández. Teams of artists collaborated on all aspects of the final costume, which comprised 125 pattern pieces.

“It’s not like doing a montage for a contemporary movie, where Meryl Streep comes in and talks about the costume and what it could be, and is it awkward?” Morgan says. “It had to adapt to all of Timothée [Chalamet] to Rebecca [Ferguson] to Jason Momoa. And so the size range is: you can see it as a sliding scale, each shape and size has to look good and be comfortable and do stunts.

“When Timothée put it on for the first time, he said, ‘Oh my God, this is amazing!’ and he fell to the ground like a spider, because he is very fluid in his movements and very agile. And Rebecca too, she had to fight, and she was immediately spinning and spinning kicks. It helped us. We learned with them. “

Both West and Morgan emphasize how much of their idea of DuneThe wardrobe of the future was inspired by the past, not just aesthetically, but the way humans of the future would adapt to life in the desert in the same way that they always have. The designers observed how people dress for the desert in Morocco and Jordan. They looked at Bedouin culture and costume, and the ways in which staying cool was a matter of life and death, one that will likely be relevant to more and more people, given Earth’s changing climate.

“It was such a prophetic piece, Dune. “West says.” With all the temperatures this summer, and forest fires – you could imagine the still images going into production. “

Dune: Part One is currently in theaters and on HBO Max.