12 times fashion designers were inspired by superheroes

The fashion world has long been entranced by comic books. No wonder. They offer up world upon world of city skylines and sinister laboratories, showy costumes and dramatic story arcs, battles raging between good and evil.

In fact, in 2008 the MET devoted an exhibition to the potent power of various much-beloved characters, Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy delineating how designers have been influenced by fantastical figures, dastardly villains and women metamorphosed into (often scantily clad) warriors. It focussed particularly on the relationship between superhero-influenced apparel and physicality—for where better than in the realms of Spiderman, Thor, and Black Widow to explore how a body can transform, and how dress can transform a body?

From detectives to monsters to students (see Riverdale’s update of the Archie comics), the comic book genre has grown to encompass all sorts of storytelling. And modern day reworks are, thankfully, beginning to reckon with age-old limitations. Contemporary film adaptations of classics, from Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman to the current Captain Marvel starring Brie Larson, have allowed for more nuanced explorations of women—while Sana Amanat in her role as VP at Marvel has been explicit on the need for further diversity among the characters we see on page and screen.

Here, we explore fashion’s infatuation with comics, from the 1990s to now, taking in heroes, nemeses, a spy and ample explosions along the way…

1. Thierry Mugler Couture AW95

Image: Condé Nast Archive

One can’t explore comic books without thinking of Mugler’s work, with its emphasis on athleticism, excess and often provocative approaches to shape and cut. His famous AW95 armoured suit—revealed from beneath a sweeping cape—was featured in the MET’s exhibition, displayed alongside Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man costume. Often described as a designer of high drama, a certain kitsch comic book influence permeated Mugler’s catwalks, populated with OTT villains and heroes in iconic moulded bodices, bodysuits featuring flames, starbursts and metal belts, extravagant padding and latex leggings. Where plenty of superhero get-ups seem to be engineered for agility or aerodynamic feats, Mugler’s designs take a different approach. One that’s battle-clad. (Although, not without controversy in relation to the female body, given that this armour wouldn’t be especially effective in protecting the wearer’s breasts, stomach, or thighs.)

2. Dior Couture SS01

Image: Rex Features

Perhaps one of the most prevailing points of influence on the fashion industry is Wonder Woman. First featured by DC Comics in 1941, this (literally) Amazonian figure with her mythical background and belted bodysuit, has inspired numerous designers—not least, perhaps, because of the backstory to her character’s creation, allegedly rooted in the three-way relationship between creator William Marston, his wife Elizabeth Holloway, and his partner Olive Byrne, who also lived with them. An avowed advocate of equal rights, Wonder Woman’s proclamations of strength—both physical and political—guided John Galliano’s SS01 couture show. Charting a history from subjugation to emancipation, via bespectacled, be-corseted monochromes, 1950s suburban domesticity amplified into billowing gowns embroidered with household items, and some requisite All-American stars and stripes, the collection ended with a (now rather dated looking) imagined return for Wonder Woman to Paradise Island.

3. Alexander McQueen AW02

Image: Rex Features

The relationship between comic books and fashion is symbiotic: designers draw on comics, and comics (and their film franchises) draw on the catwalks. For 2018’s Black Panther, Ruth E. Carter kitted out the characters in various high fashion pieces, including Alexander McQueen. McQueen is particularly apt, given how frequently his work involved subtle nods to the moral complexities and aesthetic modes of heroes and villains alike. AW02 aligned with comic book visuals in Val Garland’s makeup, distinctly reminiscent of Batman’s winged mask; while Sarah Burton’s AW15 collection featured black lacquer masks, created by Pat McGrath to frame models’ faces. The mask, of course, is a stalwart sartorial feature for any superhuman figure needing to obscure their day-to-day identity. Other designers have played with the possibilities of concealment and disguise too—see Gucci’s AW19 black, turquoise and white spiked masks for a fiercer interpretation.

4. Jean-Paul Gaultier Couture SS03

Image: Rex Features

Though Spiderman himself might feel a little too much like a fancy dress costume (unless you’re Vetements, who’ve recently been plastering the logo and that instantly identifiable shade of red all over quilted coats, silk scarves and bodycon dresses with built in gloves), his multi-purpose webs have been of more interest to designers. Gaultier has demonstrated a consistent interest in comic book elements (see #7, below), perhaps most literally in his Wonder Woman– and Superman-themed fragrances released in 2017. Long before that though, he turned to Spiderman for his SS03 couture show: a delicate button-sewn web of gold radiating from the hip of a dress, combined with rusty ruched fabric and turquoise gloves to create a look somewhere between arachnid and eclectic showgirl.

5. Gareth Pugh SS07

Image: Rex Features

Gareth Pugh is another designer whose dark, almost gothic, take on silhouettes links to the strangeness and exaggeration of the comic book universe. Look to his AW18’s black plastic and fiercely proportioned shoulders, or AW11’s metallic chevrons and plentiful capes—diminutive costume designer Edna Mode might have tersely declared “no capes!” in The Incredibles, but fashion does love a garment that swoops down from the shoulders. Also featured in the MET exhibition, the standout look from Pugh’s SS07 collection was a shiny all-black outfit that resembled an angular, Tetris-built Batman. With a mirrored headpiece and a vast, spiked structure descending from the model’s shoulders, it was a startling, sci-fi re-imagination of an instantly recognisable figure. Batman has proved fruitful for other designers too, notably in The Blonds’ AW14 show nodding to a series of the superheroes’ nemeses, including The Joker and Poison Ivy.

6. Balenciaga SS07

Image: Marcio Madeira

Catwoman is, well, catnip, to a lot of designers: her leather-clad antics charming plenty, with actors including Eartha Kitt and Halle Berry taking on the role in various on-screen adaptations. Nicolas Ghesquière’s tenure at Balenciaga drew on the spirit of this intriguing antiheroine, from his all-black SS98 debut (featuring headpieces that wouldn’t have looked out of place in Gotham City) to AW03’s thigh-high boots. For SS07, Ghesquière said he’d been inspired by The Terminator’s mechanised visions, but there were also looks reminiscent of Selina Kyle, with dark, angular suits and shiny, form-fitting dresses. More literal interpretations—complete with cat ears, cat-suits and cat-everything-else—can be found in Iceberg’s furry-coated AW08 collection, Givenchy’s AW11 aviator jackets and velvet bodysuits, and Mugler’s full-on caped homage for AW96.

7. Hermès AW10

Image: Getty

Beginning with Lily Cole emerging in a zip-up black leather catsuit complete with bowler hat, briefcase and umbrella, Jean-Paul Gaultier’s Hermès AW10 offering paid homage to the character of Emma Peel, played by Diana Rigg, in The Avengers—a British 1960s espionage TV show, also serialised in comic book form. (Entirely separate, it must be noted, from Marvel’s US-based superhero team The Avengers.) In her on-screen persona, Peel was best known for sporting a series of glorious catsuits: the ideal garment for sneaking around in, standing assertively and executing some impressively forceful high kicks. Gaultier’s emphasis on leather—in blacks, browns, plums and more—made for a memorable collection of office-wear meets fetish gear, from ties to trousers and every modern-day-spy essential, a statement trench coat.

8. Jeremy Scott AW11

Image: Getty

Jeremy Scott is a fan of a flashy pop culture reference; designs for both Moschino and his eponymous line have featured everything from Pikachu to McDonald’s to The Powerpuff Girls. His AW11 show saw models with pastel-dipped pigtails and neon eyeshadow, clad in stripes and metallics, Coca-Cola-esque logos emblazoned with ‘Enjoy God’ and perhaps the two most famous comic book logos: Batman and Superman. The latter’s insignia was inverted to become a question mark, appearing first on a tank-top and then on the front of a glittering blue sequinned gown for the finale, with a red cape trailing behind. Elsewhere, the Captain Marvel lightning bolt plunged from necklines, while a blue-and-white starred dress with red shoes suggested Wonder Woman out to dinner.

9. Tom Ford AW13

Image: Getty

Sometimes it’s as simple as a single graphic. Tom Ford’s 2013 return to the catwalk saw models decked out in lavish leopard prints, elaborate knee-high boots and pink and purple patchwork, alongside some distinctly comic book-inflected motifs. Glamorous long-sleeved evening gowns, sporty bomber jackets and sequinned skirts featured punchy, jewel-hued explosions—the kind beloved of fight scenes and superhero spectacles. Doing what he does best, of course, Ford elevated these explosions to something both tongue-in-cheek and tremendously alluring. Elsewhere, 3.1 Phillip Lim’s Pre-Fall 2012 collection saw Kapow!-style sweaters and bags; while Jeremy Scott mixed comics with primary-colour pop art lettering (and a dash of David Bowie) for SS12, and exclaimed ‘Shock’ and ‘Power’ in neon fonts for SS19.

10. Tsumori Chisato AW15

Image: Getty

The comic book format, comprised of panelled images and text, is largely acknowledged to have taken off with the launch of Superman in America in 1938 (first in Action Comics, then just a few months later with his own self-titled comic)—but plenty of examples laid the foundations, not least the emergence of manga in Japan in the 18th and 19th centuries. It’s a heritage Japanese designer Tsumori Chisato drew on for AW15, her own childhood dreams of becoming a manga artist revisited in a playful collection where many of the clothes could, quite literally, be read like a book. Mixing illustration styles and influences, Chisato included Catwoman-esque figures slinking across dresses and tops, and more fun, abstract reference to the colour-palettes and graphics of comics and manga, via bright, oversized coats, flame-patterned tights, elaborate collars and the odd speech bubble.

11. Prada SS18

Image: Rex Features

Where many have been inspired by the actual costumes of superheroes, others have turned to the drawings themselves. Miuccia Prada has been playing with comic book motifs and ideas for the last few years, from AW18’s futuristic neons and Gotham City-style set to the recent Frankenstein graphics in AW19’s menswear and womenswear shows. But it was SS18 that saw her most explicit acknowledgement of the power and potential of comics, via collaborations with eight female cartoonists and manga artists—including Trina Robbins, who was the first woman to draw Wonder Woman in the mid-1980s. The collection provided a welcome corrective to the comic-book tendency to objectify and sexualise women’s bodies for the male gaze; instead it was a celebration of the rich history and ongoing present of those drawing more inclusively.

12. Iris van Herpen AW18

Image: Rex Features

When looking to the future of fashion—one that, with its interest in innovative production and boundary-pushing approaches to the body, doesn’t seem too far removed from some of the costuming ideas explored here—Iris van Herpen seems like a natural place to alight. A pioneer of 3D printing and other forward-thinking techniques, her clothes are startling, sculptural and often made for movement. Plenty of offerings from her AW18 couture show, which merged biology and technology, looked fit to clad a modern-day superhero: from dynamic, almost winged, bodysuits to mesmerising gossamer-light organza capes.

Also read:

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