'She-Hulk: Attorney at Law' Is Full of Superpowered Fashion

Costume designer Ann Foley breaks down She-Hulk’s actual designer gown, plus the “Luke Jacobson” skirt suit — and supersuit.

Warning: Spoilers for all episodes of ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’ below.

Sure, “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” is a Marvel superhero series about the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo)’s — a.k.a. Bruce Banner’s — cousin, Jen Walters (Tatiana Maslany), after he accidentally gives her her own green supersized alter-ego in the aftermath of a car crash. Being a woman, she’s accustomed to managing her inner rage and emotion on a daily basis. So, she becomes a reluctant superhero — and her “She-Hulk” persona becomes public information. 

There are frenzy-inducing supersuit reveals, relentless MCU Easter Eggs and surprise cameos, like (the real) Megan Thee Stallion twerking in pink Balmain, Wong (Benedict Wong) crying to “This Is Us” and Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Charlie Cox) taking a morning-after walk. But the fourth wall-breaking comedy, created and written by Jessica Gao, is also an action-packed adventure through a fashion-focused lens, thanks to costume designer Ann Foley. 

Foley knows a thing or two about supersuits: She worked on Marvel’s “Agents of Shield,” “Altered Carbon” and the upcoming “Masters of the Universe.” Ahead, the series costume designer takes a look back at the fashion moments in “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” and shares behind-the-scenes facts about the best-dressed superhero on the small-screen.

Jen/She-Hulk

Per the directive from her new boss at GLH&K, a prestigious superhuman-focused law firm, Jen needs to front-face with clients (and colleagues) in She-Hulk mode. But finding a properly-fitted suit proves a challenge, until Luke Jacobson designs her a high-tech skirt suit that immediately adjusts to a perfect fit from Jen to She-Hulk, and vice versa.

“I wanted it to be purple, as nod to color scheme in the comics,” says Foley, adding that she also wanted it to draw from “high-end fashion designer lines like Alexander McQueen — “just beautifully tailored suits that showed that they were made by Luke Jacobson, our in-house Edna Mode.” (Imogene Chayes drew concept art for the suit.)

Behind-the-scenes, designing the Jen-to-She-Hulk wardrobe required a team of artisans, starting with Marvel’s Head of Visual Development Ryan Meinerding, who designed the height and muscle physique of She-Hulk. Then, 6-foot-5 actor Malia Arrayah joined as an on-set reference for Jen’s much-discussed, CG-enhanced transformation into She-Hulk; Foley worked with Arrayah and a body form made from a cast of the actor to accurately “work out the mathematics” of accurately depicting the wardrobe aspect of Jen growing into She-Hulk.

The jewel-toned office skirt-suit also serves as a teaser of sorts to the big reveal of the supersuit, drawn by concept artist Jackson Sze. 

She-Hulk (literally) jumps into the scene in a purple and white sporty wrestling onesie silhouette and high-tops during a fairly hot battle with Daredevil. The  futuristic armor-like panels were printed with a specialty “iridescent ink” that has a layer of foil over it to create a 3D-like depth. Foley’s team — including costume manufacturing foreperson and cutter Marilyn Madsen — actually hand-stitched each of the stretch knit panels onto the supersuit.

“[The supersuit] feels like the character, and it feels empowering, too,” says Foley. “That’s one of the great things about the show: There are so many badass women [involved], from our directors to [executive producer] Wendy Jacobson and even our cast. One of the things that was so inspirational about working on the show was being surrounded by all these truly amazing, fantastic women and getting to tell this fun story.”

There’s also, of course, Jen/She-Hulk’s gala gown, which has its own backstory over a few episodes, starting with Nikki (Ginger Gonzaga)’s and sneakerhead lawyer Pug (Josh Seggara)’s quest to retain the services of the ultra-exclusive tailor to superheroes, Luke Jacobson (Griffin Matthews). With her glorious butterfly waves blowing in the breeze, Jen debuts the gown as she walks the carpet into the gala celebrating her win for “Female Lawyer of the Year.” Alas, Jen and her designer gown go viral for other reasons in the penultimate episode twist.

Behind the scenes, Foley found her own sought-after bespoke designer through the episode’s director, Kat Coiro, who wanted something extra special for Jen’s big reveal. 

“[Coiro] had a relationship with Zuhair Murad from one of her previous shows, so we reached out and he graciously accepted this wonderful task to design a gown for She-Hulk,” she says.

Luke Jacobson, Fashion Designer to the Supes

Luke Jacobson’s immaculately dapper three-piece suits — featuring his signature high-break, double-breasted waistcoats (or vests, in American) — are, appropriately, custom. “I wanted them to be special. I wanted them to look like they were not off-the-rack,” says Foley. 

For inspiration, she looked to “The Incredibles” supersuit designer Edna Mode, who’s own distinctive aesthetic references costume designers Edith Head and Eiko Ishioka, plus fashion legends Rei Kawakubo and Chitose Abe of Sacai. Plus, Foley adds: “There’s a little bit of Tom Ford with his glasses.”

She collaborated with British bespoke tailor to the stars Joshua Kane for Luke’s entire wardrobe of luxurious silk and wool suiting, often with storytelling prints. Kane also designed the mint green three-piece suit that Matthews wore to the “She-Hulk” premiere in August.

Nikki 

When Jen is recruited by GLK&H, she brings along her paralegal, best friend and constant fashion influence Nikki. “They’re a little fish out of water,” says Foley. 

While helping Jen on her challenging cases, Nikki regularly flouts the buttoned-up office dress code in bold pink blazers by Veronica Beard and Cinq à Sept, a yellow draped minidress by Alex Perry and a gold mutton-sleeve top from Ganni. Behind-the-scenes, Foley and Gonzaga bonded over their deep knowledge of and excitement over shopping. 

“With Ginger, I met my match as an online shopaholic,” says Foley, who sourced a fair amount of designer resale from Recess LA for a label-packed wardrobe that a paralegal would be able to afford. “Nikki tries to figure out how to be smart about it, and still look like a fashion icon,” says Foley.

Mallory

Jen’s absurdly chic and self-assured colleague Mallory (Renée Elise Goldsberry) keeps her personal life very close to the vest. Even the very personable Nikki can’t get her to drop any out-of-office tea as they celebrate a recent legal win. Mallory’s consistent aesthetic of body-con sheath dresses by Roland Mouret, Victoria Beckham, Alexander McQueen and Meghan Markle-fave Safiyaa intimidate and impress in the office and the courtroom. 

“What she wears to work, it’s her own armor in a way,” says Foley, citing a black and white graphic print Akris dress (above) as a favorite.

While I kept hoping Mallory, as played by the “Girls5Eva” scene stealer and Tony winner, would spontaneously burst into song, Foley was just excited to reunite with Goldsberry. 

“The last time I worked with Renee was on ‘Altered Carbon,’ and she was in tactical gear and body armor,” she says. “Getting to put her in these amazing, fabulous dresses was such a dream for both of us.”

Pug 

At Fashionista, we — especially Liza and I — are huge fans of Josh Segarra. It’s like his lawyer character, Augustus “Pug” Pugliese, is Lance from “The Other Two,” but if Lance was more academically-inclined and passed the bar: They’re both pure-hearted and supportive friends, major hypebeasts and envelope-pushers when it comes to their professional wardrobe.

“I wanted to have him stand out a little bit, too, from that corporate environment,” says Foley, about Pug’s natty, wooly three-piece suit aesthetic. “But I didn’t want it just to be a typical vest. I thought this guy has a little bit of flair — he should mix it up a little bit.” 

Shockingly, Pug’s suits aren’t custom, but rather from Dutch direct-to-consumer brand Suit Supply. “Everything had a little bit of texture to it, whether it was a windowpane plaid or a nailhead on the suit,” says Foley. “Just like Nikki was a rule breaker and likes to change things up a little bit, so does Pug, but he still stays within the boundaries of that environment.” No wonder the two team up to help Jen, starting with finding Pug’s “drip broker” to lead them to Luke. 

“I love the whole ‘drip broker’ storyline,” says Foley, with a laugh. “It’s pretty cool. Somebody tagged me on Twitter saying that I was the real drip broker for ‘She-Hulk.'” 

Titania

Branding is critical for social media content creators, especially a (super)power-influencer like Titania (Jameela Jamil), who uses legal channels to claim the “She-Hulk” title for herself and her empire. To nail the message home, Titania dresses in head-to-toe green, like a custom forest green Christian Siriano gown for a personal appearance at her “She-Hulk Beauty” pop-up and all her power-shoulder OTT pantsuits.

“That was part of Titania trying to steal the She-Hulk identity — everything that she wore prior to the court scene was green, to show she’s the real She-Hulk,'” says Foley, who, for inspiration, took a “massive deep dive” into Instagram and reality star influencers like “Selling Sunset”‘s Christine Quinn and the Kardashians.

Foley appreciated Jamil’s willingness to lean into the comedy aspect of Titania’s costumes, too: “She had no fear, especially when it came to adding things like the butt pads — which was a hilarious moment in one of the earlier episodes, where you literally see it fall out at one point and you realize that everything about Titania is fake.”

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Source: Fashionista.com