Posted in: Paramount+, Star Trek, streaming, TV | Tagged: Babs Olusanmokun, Bernadette Croft, discovery, exclusive, interview, Jack Quaid, lower decks, Rebecca Romijn, star trek, strange new worlds, Tawny Newsome

Star Trek: SNW Costume Designer on Klingons, "Lower Decks" & More

Star Trek Costume Designer Bernadette Croft discusses working on Strange New Worlds, the "Lower Decks" crossover, Klingons, and much more.

Just as fans anticipate the second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, costume designer Bernadette Croft was mere weeks away from the production of the first episode of season three, suspended due to the current WGA strike. While she's optimistic "the studios will come to their senses," there's another set of adventures awaiting Star Trek fans to set their faces to stunned. Croft's been an industry veteran for nearly two decades and embraces the challenge of being part of the sci-fi franchise since its reemergence in the streaming era for Paramount+ with Discovery. With the season two premiere episode released, Croft spoke to Bleeding Cool about how she was recruited, moving on to SNW, honoring the franchise's legacy, season one highlights, including the fantasy-themed episode "The Elysian Kingdom," and what we can look for in season two.

Bernadette Croft's Star Trek Journey: Discovery to Strange New Worlds

How did you find yourself working in the 'Star Trek' franchise?

Croft: I've been working in TV and film for 18 years, and what's great about the industry is the variety of projects you get to work on. I was working for Meredith Markworth-Pollock, who was the costume designer on a show called 'Reign,' which is about Mary Queen of Scots in the 16th century. After that wrapped, I went over to [Star Trek] 'Discovery,' which is this futuristic sci-fi show based on the 23rd century. I was the assistant costume designer for Gersha Phillips. It's great being part of the Star Trek family, it's amazing because it's so supportive. I was promoted in-house and was given this amazing opportunity to work on 'Strange New Worlds,' a beautiful world-building show.

What went into bridging the gap between 'Strange New Worlds' and 'Discovery?'

Like 'The Original Series and 'Strange New Worlds,' was almost 57 years apart, and our show is essentially a prequel, so it's set about ten years before 'The Original Series.' We're also about a year or two after Discovery. These shows visually are very different. It was a bit of a challenge to link the shows but also develop our visual language. We took the silhouette of 'Discovery,' and we used similar fabrics and construction techniques but leaned into the vibrancy, colors, and overall optimism of 'The Original Series.' We blended them all similarly.

What elements did you adapt from 'The Original Series' into 'Strange New Worlds?'

The casual nature, talking about the uniforms, they seemed very comfortable, and we wanted that for our actors as well.

What was the inspiration behind designs with medieval costumes from the season one episode 'The Elysian Kingdom?'

The inspiration came directly from the script Akela Cooper and Onitra Johnson wrote that magical story is so layered, and it was about this heartbreaking story about a parent letting go of their child; there was adventure and comedy throughout the episode, but the underlying themes were quite universal. I tapped into my love of fantasy, and I used an eclectic approach when designing the costumes. I wanted M'Benga [Babs Olusanmokun] to have elements of African royalty and celebrate that beauty instead of a traditional European-style costume. I loved the idea of the Huntress played by Rebecca Romijn to have chainmail. We teamed up with a local vendor called The Ring Lord, and they developed this gorgeous metallic custom-made chainmail, and we 3D-printed some bracers all on the wrist and matched the colors. We wanted to infuse as much detail as possible with everyone's costume for this episode.

What elements from Star Trek's 50+ year history did you incorporate into 'Strange New Worlds' beyond the uniforms?

Star Trek is such a beloved series that it means so much to so many people. Every design is carefully considered, and there is this big approval process; showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonzo Myers wanted us to focus on the nostalgia of classic Trek, elevate and reimagined it, so it would resonate with today's audiences. The intention is to engage and entertain our loyal fans who may have hundreds of hours of Trek viewing under their belts, but we also wanted to take the interest of a new modern audience who expect an exciting story and matching production values.

We've seen the uniform evolve since the days of 'The Original Series' as they entered the films to 'The Next Generation,' did anything change with 'Strange New Worlds' uniforms this second season?

In season one, we're setting the tone and introducing the uniform. We're introducing the audience to our episodic style format. We're getting to know these characters, and we're learning about the stories we're going to tell. From 'Discovery,' that uniform was tailored; the neck was quite high and close to the neck. In 'TOS,' the uniforms were a little bit more casual. They seemed more comfortable. We wanted to bridge that gap and be somewhere in the middle for the uniforms.

Moving into season two, it's the same episodic style. We've pushed the boundaries of storytelling even more. Throughout season one, my team showed me what they're capable of and the talent they possess. In season two, I could be more ambitious with it, and I knew that they could handle it. We've gone for it in season two, and it's exciting to read the scripts; imagining how the crew and I can bring these characters to life and make every episode memorable.

Aside from 'The Elysian Kingdom,' were there any other episodes in which you had to do a considerable amount of particularly challenging work?

[Season one] Episode six is quite big "Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach." That was a big one. This story is about this seemingly heavenly world where no one suffered illness. We used this dreamy sunset palette for all the flowing robes and accessories, and Alora [Lindy Booth], who was one of the main characters of that episode, had five costume changes. Hassidriss custom-built two incredible haute couture gowns. There were a lot of background artists in that episode as well, which always stretches our team a little bit.

Episode seven, "The Serene Squall," was fun but a massive one for us as well. It was full of these grimy space pirates, so our textile artist had an enormous amount of work to do to make them look grimy, foul, and dirty. So that was a big one. Episode eight, 'The Elysian Kingdom,' was the biggest; the Crimson Guard costumes, for instance, they're custom-built for each performer, like 150 leather pieces. There was a dragon pauldron that was custom hand sculpted and covered in metallic foil and then broken down. It's a lot of work, and we live for these episodes. We love it, but having them so close together, like six, seven, and eight, was a lot of work.

You're given two weeks to prep, two weeks to shoot, and then you wrap the episode. We're working on three episodes at once, the background department is our unsung heroes. On a world-building show like Star Trek, you can have episodes where there are 100 backgrounds or more. There are so many fittings, there are alterations, further costume building and textile art. Their work is so important because it fleshes out these worlds and it grounds the scene. You never know if a background performer is going to be featured. Every look must be properly fit and styled in the establishing scenes. It's a mile a minute sometimes.

Is there anything else you can tease about the upcoming season and what to look out for?

Oh, my gosh! You better get ready because there's a lot of great Trek coming your way. We've got this thrilling courtroom drama, and we did our take on the traditional 'Menagerie' full uniform from 'TOS.' We used a similar trim around the neck and down the center front, and we used the ranking stripes on the shoulders that were in cadence with the admiral uniform that we've established in 'Strange New Worlds.' Henry and Akiva were keen on using that 'Menagerie'-style uniform, so it was cool to get a chance to do that.

Our crossover episode was a real treat. We collaborated with Mike McMahan, the creator of 'Lower Decks,' to make sure we honored the animation while grounding the uniforms to fit our live-action uniform universe. Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid are such a dynamic duo, and they're great at riffing off each other and adlibbing. This is going to be a big fan favorite, and the Rigel 7 episode is insane. The costumes are some of my favorites of the season and especially the guards.

I was inspired by traditional Mongolian armor, and even the guards' helmets are 3D printed and painted. Our key sculptor Alex Silverberg sculpted these tiles for the front of the armor and the belt buckle. Jennifer M Johnson is a special effects builder, and she teamed up with Jeff Hughes to engineer all those layers of leather and accessories so it was comfortable and not too heavy for the performer. Anna Pantcheva, our key textile artist, and her team, go and make things like the helmet, the chest tiles, and the belt buckle look like metal. She breaks down the fabric. She makes things weathered and battle worn and essentially gives the costume believability.

We're looking forward to that, and I would say the other big thing is the Klingons. We got to do our version of our beloved and infamous Klingons. The way I updated it was I used the original black and gold palette, the square neckline, and then used hot armor with this exoskeleton detail over top, and that was to reflect the ridges of the prosthetic and make them look intimidating. We 3D printed the bubble wrap style belt buckle. Back in the day, in 'TOS,' they painted bubble wrap for the belt buckle. It was fun to kind of like a nod to those fun elements. I can't wait for you to see.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams Thursdays on Paramount+.

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