Material Innovation Renaissance

Why would the material of tights and leotards start to become less impressive to directors and costume designers? Or how as it that these materials came to be associated with old and expendable ideas?  Poor work to be sure; yet we can assume that to capture the imaginations of new audiences unique materials had to be introduced.

Material Innovation Renaissance

Spiderman

While the tight and florescent sheen of tights will probably never lose it’s favor with the super hero fan base there have been advances in other materials that should make even diehards reconsider their commitments.  First seen in Sam Raimi’s 2002 Spiderman movie, milliskin was florescent, textured and almost had appearance of being layered if not machined.  This texture actually contributed an almost other worldly arachnid skin that made the character seem both ancient and contemporary at the same time.  Like Batman’s costume, one of the best costumes of all time, the design always scored for it’s for its evocative symbolism as well all minimal suggestion. Recently add to the costume embossed webs on top of textured fabric; the material highlights even gave the costume it something it never had before. Appearing both vacuum molded and oddly natural, Spiderman’s costume seemed as though it could not have ever been cooler.

Superman

When it came time to design the latest 2006 Superman film it was natural that Director Bryan singer would want the latest innovation in super hero tights given his prior innovative reputation with the X-men.  Milliskin actually made the material seem as though it may have actually come from Krypton.  This impulse was a good one.  Where I believe singer failed was the articulation of other parts of the costume.

The chest shield in the past was always the Man of Steels most distinctive attribute. It was both a huge graphic statement but it also in the hands of actors like Christopher Reeve decorated and adorned what one of the most impressive chests in comics continuity.  This was one chest that should not have been provided by the costume and the shield purely telegraphed some of what was clearly just beneath it.

Yet Singer obviously did not see it that way, his shield was an object onto itself.   Hard clunky and incapable of conforming to actor Brandon Routh’s well defined chest the emblem made no attempt to interact with or interpret the actor below it.  

Where as leather was a statement of transgression for the Batman and even his own X-men, Superman wasn’t so much a symbol of the status quo but he instead seemed to expand the common values implied in the red, blue and gold of his costume.  In these ways Superman was a symbol of patriotic encouragement, hope, and reassurance even though his early career seemed to emphasize him as more of a bad ass.  The seeming leather tuned the red of the cape, shorts and boots into more of a blood colored maroon. Like the shield the shorts were somewhat of an anachronism to modern audiences.  Because of this they handled with the greatest care, remember fans boys do know the genitalia is there, they just don’t want to be reminded of.  Singer failed that test by making the shorts shorter by shirking the waist and creating more of a Speedo or bikini brief. Of course the lowered yellow belt with duplicated mini belt shield only helped to make the crotch protrude due to over crowding and seem even larger.   Even the dirty looking boots were reduced to barely cover Routh’s large calves making the boots appear poorly tailored to audiences who were accustomed to the thinking of Superman’s suit as idiosyncratic yet substantial.  Due to the color the cape never seemed heavier.

New materials clearly made it possible to translate many wonders of the comics’ page to film.   Yet equally obvious many notions of translation still needed to be balanced when attempting this difficult imaginative and communicative goal.