Fashion For Film

Creating costumes for Artemis Fowl was a unique challenge because few characters in the book had thorough descriptions of their outfits. “Creating Holly’s police uniform was especially difficult,” says Differ. The creative team only had a line from the book to work from.

Differ and her team designed the fairy police uniform with inspiration from nature. They used repeating patterns called fractals, like those that appear in fern leaves. In the novels, the fairy police have a protective layer of mesh covering their bodies. Differ and her team designed a fractal print that shifts color as you view it from different angles, creating the illusion of an electric current running through the fabric.

Creating costumes for Artemis Fowl was a unique challenge. The books didn’t describe most characters’ outfits in very much detail. “Creating Holly’s police uniform was especially difficult,” says Differ. The creative team only had one sentence from the book to work from.

Differ and her team took inspiration from nature to design the fairy police uniform. They used repeating patterns called fractals. These patterns appear naturally in fern leaves and other plant parts.

In the novels, the fairy police have a layer of mesh protecting their bodies. Differ and her team designed a special fractal print for the costume. It shifts color when you view it from different angles. This makes it look like electricity is running through the fabric.

Holly’s retractable fairy wings also required a lot of research. To create wings that could fold up and unfurl, Differ and her team used a backpack to store the folded wings. “We looked into what kinds of insects start off with their wings in a small space and expand to a large space,” she says. The final unfurling process mimics insects like ladybugs, whose wings remain folded under a hard shell when they are not in flight. “We made the wings like tiny pieces of glass that form a window pane and then fold into a really small size,” she adds.

All the hard work paid off—Holly’s police uniform is Differ’s favorite costume from the film. “It fits her so beautifully,” Differ explains. “I’m hoping it gives the audience the flavor of the books.”   

Holly also has fairy wings that can unfurl and fold back up again. Creating these for the costume required a lot of research. “We looked into what kinds of insects start off with their wings in a small space and expand to a large space,” says Differ.

Eventually, they designed the wings to unfurl like those of ladybugs. These insects keep their wings folded under a hard shell when they aren’t flying. Differ and her team used a backpack to store the folded wings. “We made the wings like tiny pieces of glass that form a windowpane and then fold into a really small size,” she adds.

All the hard work paid off. Holly’s police uniform is Differ’s favorite costume from the film. “It fits her so beautifully,” Differ explains. “I’m hoping it gives the audience the flavor of the books.”