Costume Critique: Snowpiercer

Snowpiercer (2013) is a South Korean science fiction film based on the graphic novel Le Transperceneige. This is the first English-language film that director Bong Joon-ho worked on, having approximately 80% of the film shot in English. It stars Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, and Tilda Swinton.

Catherine George was hired as the costume designer of the film after Bong Joon-ho saw her designs for the Cannes film We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011).

The film is set in 2013 inside a massive train that travels on a globe-spanning track. The train is divided into three major sections—the tail where all the poor people live, the middle section where kids go to school, and the front where the wealthy people reside. In each section, the costume designer carefully chose the colors and fabrics that the characters wore to show their socio-economic status and background story.

For people in the tail section, George had the actors wear grey-colored clothes that will appear rugged, showing off filth and poverty. Most of the characters also wore heavy clothing which were made by piecing together different fabrics. Curtis (Evans) wore a coat that had layers upon layers of repair on it. Other characters like Nam and Yona had to wear darker clothes made from intense black fabrics to show a progression from the tail section to the prison section of the train.

For the school section of the train, the kids wore bright red blouses and dark green skirts. This is a direct contrast to the dull-colored clothes that the poor people from the Tail section wore. The uniforms complimented the color of the room where they studied, showing off their wealth and comfortable social status.

The people on the front of the train wore luxe fabrics that sends off the message that they were the wealthiest and care-free group. They were the party-goers so George decided to play with their costumes using images from the fashion perspective of contemporary night club goers.