Star Trek: Discovery brought with it dozens of new costumes as part of its 21st century “visual reboot,” and leading the design of new Starfleet uniforms, civilian wear, Mirror Universe armor — and now the familiar red, blue, and gold tones of classic Trek — is costume designer Gersha Phillips.
Phillips has been instrumental in forming the look of Discovery’s modern take on Trek, inspiring cosplayers to build their own versions of the series’ complicated garments — from rushed efforts in the earliest days of pre-air promotion to some truly awe-inspiring creativity found at this year’s annual Star Trek convention out in Las Vegas.
We caught up with Phillips at STLV last weekend, to discuss the challenges in bringing the original Star Trek color scheme to her modern-day Discovery apparel stylings, the inspiration behind last season’s Terran Empire wardrobe, and seeing her professional creations come to life in the hands of amateur fans at Star Trek conventions.
TrekCore: What sort of challenges did you have taking the design and the aesthetic of the 1960s costumes – somewhat simpler fabrics, similar patterns – and adapting them to the Discovery world with techniques and materials that are so much more advanced?
Gersha Phillips: Well, you know, I thought it a bit, and we finally decided that we would keep our silhouette of the Discovery costume, and then take the TOS colors into our aesthetic. So, I think it feels like it’s worked very well.
We’ve simmered down our metallics, and did sort of a tone-on-tone with our compression panels, and kept our collar which I think actually feels like a really good nod to the Original Series. And the black pants, which is another nod, but used our Discovery style and aesthetic on that as well.
I think it looks good and I think it works well, and brings the two together quite well.
TrekCore: In the “The Cage,” where we met Captain Pike for the first time – at that time, the episode did not have the traditional red, blue, and gold —
Phillips: It was more pastel.
TrekCore: Pastel, yeah. When you were developing Season 2, was that a consideration? Was there a time where you were looking to go more towards that “Cage” look?
Phillips: I don’t think so. I think, right away, we decided that we were going to go with the traditional TOS colors and stay with that. You know, “The Cage” even though it has such a place in Trek lore, for example, it still didn’t go as far as TOS did, the Original Series, and so I feel like that was the marker we would set our information from.
TrekCore: When you were working on the Terran officers uniforms – with the black leather and so forth, the gold trim – what sort of influence did you take from the Original Series portrayal of the Mirror uniforms, with the sashes and vests and all that?
Phillips: Well, I definitely looked at that series, that episode, “Mirror, Mirror.” I actually had the pictures up, and I had my whole team look at it as well. Even though our stuff doesn’t look exactly like it, I think there’s a piece of it that feels similar. Like, for some reason, in my mind, the asymmetrical [look] comes from there.
If you think of Kirk’s, you know, the vest that he’s wearing, I guess that’s what I’m thinking of too. And the gold, that was a definite nod towards that as well. And then just moving it something that felt more like ‘now,’ or the future from now, as supposed to going back.
TrekCore: Was there an effort to make them a little, I guess, a little less sexualized? Obviously they’re form-fitting and so forth, but there’s no bare midriffs, nobody’s walking around with their arms hanging out…
PHILLIPS: Yes! It just didn’t feel like the right thing to do, with Georgiou or Burnham. It just didn’t feel right.
We did, actually, there is a picture that I did do like bare arms, where I sort of looked at that idea, but that, still, I don’t know. Nobody liked those images! (Laughs)
TrekCore: As with any costume for a filmed production, you have to work with set designers and production designers to align the aesthetic of the outfits to the setting. What kind of work did you have to do with the Terran Empire sets to match up the uniforms?
Phillips: Well, actually, that’s a great question. I worked a lot with [production designer] Tamara Deverell, from the beginning, when we had a concept meeting and started talking about doing the Terran Empire.
She had these really great pictures of brutalist architecture, which sort of helped me inform what I was going to do with the costume design. We developed a really good print that we used on everything, that overlay print, and then they took that and put it into the ship – so it’s kind of like one leading the other, which is really cool and a great experience.
But I work very well with Tamara, and the other department heads — [prop master] Mario Moreira, as well. But yeah, it’s very hand-in-hand, we’re always consulting, you know, making sure that our stuff is going to work well together and our costumes work well with the costume department – and everything has relation to each other as well.
TrekCore: Here at the Star Trek convention, fans are really taking to heart all the work you did last season. What is it like seeing people making their own versions of your costumes?
Phillips: It’s overwhelming. Very humbling… very everything. I’m just having many different emotions over it. It’s been quite an experience, actually. Seeing it online is one thing, but actually seeing the people and meeting them in person they’re all so gracious and so wonderful.
It’s really a lovely experience, I have to say. It’s quite fabulous.
We’ve still got more from our 2018 STLV coverage to come, to keep checking back here to TrekCore for all the latest in Star Trek and Star Trek: Discovery news!