Arianne Phillips, the costume designer for “Joker: Folie à Deux,” has provided insights into her work bringing Lady Gaga’s character to life. In the upcoming musical, Gaga plays Harley Quinn, starting as an obsessed fan of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) before transforming into the iconic character. Phillips faced the challenge of expanding the visual world from the first “Joker” film while honoring Mark Bridges’ Oscar-nominated costume design.
Phillips collaborated closely with Gaga to develop the character’s look throughout the story. In early scenes, Lady Gaga’s character is shown as an “underdeveloped, infantilized fan girl” through outfits like scrubs with a floral top. Phillips said this showed how the character was “obsessed with the Joker like a teenage girl — she’s a fan girl in a way that stunts her emotional growth.”
As the relationship develops, the costumes become more sophisticated, featuring sophisticated dresses and aggressive outfits. The climactic costume is a red diamond-patterned jacket, departing from the previous childish clothing. To ground Harley Quinn in the film’s realistic setting, Phillips imagined the character thrifting pieces in 1980s Gotham and altering a black-and-white corset.
For the Joker, Phillips drew from the first film’s established design but added variations like a white suit for a wedding scene and blue outfit for a jazz number. She aimed to respect the original look while changing colors between fantasy sequences, as seen in Peter Greenaway’s film “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover.”
Phillips noted feeling creative freedom on this project similar to her experience with Quentin Tarantino. She was “allowed to take my own risks” in further exploring the characters. The film also reunites Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix, who previously worked together on “Walk the Line” almost 20 years ago.