Turzanska used leather, color and clay to create a visual masterpiece of love and grief.
Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal star in Chloé Zhao’s HAMNET (Credit: Agata Grzybowska / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES)
Chloe Zhao’s latest period drama, Hamnet, tells a story of grief and love surrounding one of history’s most notable figures, William Shakespeare. To communicate the rich themes of the film, Costume Designer Malgosia Turzanska (known for Hell or High Water) dressed each player in color, texture and natural materials inspired by the story’s emotional core.
For Agnes (Jessie Buckley), the vibrant herbalist whose life is rooted in nature, Turzanska began her wardrobe with an "explosion of life force" expressed through striking orange and red hues. As tragedy strikes the family, these vital tones slowly fade into prune, purple, brown, and gray, signifying a life force "waning until it disappears." A powerful, use of color that communicates her grief as a physical decay.
Jessie Buckley stars as Agnes in director Chloé Zhao’s HAMNET. (Credit: Agata Grzybowska / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES)
Meanwhile, for Will (Paul Mescal), Turzanska designed his early wardrobe with voluminous, quilted and padded leather pieces—a protective nod to his rigid upbringing. As Will evolves through the arc of the story, his garments begin to reflect his inner state: his leather doublets develop physical "wounds," growing from little slashes to giant cut-out chunks that symbolize his growing emotional pain. The catharsis is completed as he portrays the Ghost in Hamlet, wearing a linen sheath covered in cracking clay, representing the final breakdown of his shell.
Actor Paul Mescal and Costume designer Malgosia Turzanska on the set of director Chloé Zhao’s HAMNET. (Credit: Agata Grzybowska / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES)
This meticulous, thematic approach to costuming is a masterclass in visual storytelling that has earned Turzanska an Excellence in Period Film nomination from the Costume Designers Guild Awards and has landed her on Variety's and The Hollywood Reporter's prediction lists for Academy Awards nominations.
For a deeper dive into Turzanska's historical research, the materials she sourced (including "mushroom leather" and authentic Elizabethan ink), and the full scope of her thoughtful design process, read the amazing two-part interview at The Credits:
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