Cinema has always understood something fashion often forgets. Clothes do not sit on the body. They change how the body thinks, moves, and reacts.
In the early 20th century, Russian avant-garde artist Lyubov Popova designed transformer costumes for Vsevolod Meyerhold’s theatre. These costumes shifted shape on stage, forcing actors to move differently mid-performance. The costume was not decoration. It was choreography.
A century later, that idea is not obsolete. It is becoming more relevant.
At the BRICS+ Fashion & Lifestyle Summit, design is discussed not as styling, but as infrastructure for emotion, identity, and performance. Nowhere is this clearer than in costume design.
Costume as the Actor’s Second Skin
Costume designers often describe their work as building a “second skin.” That phrase is literal. Research from the University of Hertfordshire shows that clothing can alter posture, gait, and even decision-making. Actors experience this at an extreme level.
Ruth E. Carter’s work on Black Panther is a modern reference point. By blending traditional African textiles with futuristic construction, she did more than create visuals. She anchored Wakanda in emotional credibility. The result speaks in numbers. The film crossed USD 1.3 billion globally, and the Smithsonian later acquired several costumes as cultural artefacts.
In Dune, Jacqueline West used 3D-printed components for Fremen stillsuits, but insisted on physical weight, texture, and restriction. Actors have spoken about how the stiffness and heat retention changed their breathing and movement. The costume dictated behavior.
For The Master and Margarita (2024), designers sourced 19th-century fabrics from flea markets to create visible wear and fatigue. The goal was not realism on camera, but real sensation for the actor. The fabric carried time. The actor carried it further.
Why Physical Costume Still Beats Digital
In an era of CGI characters and virtual production, this may seem counterintuitive. Yet even fully digital characters often rely on physical costume references.
When Mila Jovovich played Alice in Resident Evil, motion capture still required weighted suits and textured garments. Why? Because muscle memory matters. Fabric resistance affects how an arm lifts. Weight affects how long a stance can be held.
A 2023 production study found that actors working in physical costume delivered 18 to 25 percent higher emotional consistency across takes compared to those relying primarily on digital wardrobe overlays.
The body believes what it wears.
BRICS+ Perspectives: Design Rooted in Material Truth
Across BRICS+ countries, costume and fashion design have long been grounded in material intelligence.
- India draws from centuries of textile knowledge where drape, temperature, and ritual function shape movement. Contemporary costume studios now blend handloom fabrics with performance engineering for theatre and film.
- China integrates industrial textile innovation into costume production. Studios working on historical epics use laser-cut layering and smart fabrics to control silhouette without restricting movement.
- Brazilian designers working in cinema often source natural fibers that react visibly to humidity and sweat, allowing emotion to register through fabric.
- South Africa brings narrative design into costume. Materials are chosen for symbolic weight as much as physical form.
- Partner countries like Uzbekistan and Iran contribute deep archival textile techniques, now being reintroduced into modern costume departments for authenticity and durability.
This is not nostalgia. It is systems thinking applied to storytelling.
What Makes a Character Image Memorable
A memorable costume is rarely about extravagance. It is about alignment.
Material. Weight. Wear. Cultural code. Function.
When these elements align, audiences remember the character before they remember the plot. This is why iconic costumes are endlessly referenced, studied, and copied. Not because they are fashionable, but because they feel true.
Why This Matters Beyond Cinema
Fashion, performance, gaming, and immersive retail are converging. As digital worlds expand, physical design becomes the anchor of emotional reality.
The BRICS+ Fashion & Lifestyle Summit positions design as a strategic tool that shapes perception, movement, and belief across industries. Costume design proves that innovation does not replace the physical. It deepens it.
At the BRICS+ Fashion & Lifestyle Summit, designers, filmmakers, technologists, and material innovators come together to explore how design shapes human experience. Join the conversations where craft meets technology, and where clothing becomes more than clothing.
