InNosferatu,Muir delivers some of her most powerful work yet.
(Could this be the winter ofNosferatu-core?)
Vogue:I know thatNosferatuhad a few false starts.
Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter inNosferatu.
As a longtime collaborator of Roberts, were you there every step of the way?
Linda Muir:Yes.
Then, once we started for real, it was full speed ahead.
Director Robert Eggers, actor Emma Corrin, director of photography Jarin Blaschke, and actors Lily-Rose Depp and Aaron Taylor-Johnson on the set ofNosferatu
Did the costumes evolve at all with each iteration?
I think so, although I didnt start putting pencil to paper until we traveled to Prague.
Prior to that, I was watching films, reading books, doing plenty of research.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Friedrich Harding and Emma Corrin as Anna Harding
But the basic bones were always there.
What specifically am I designing, and what kind of embroidery are we doing?
What kind of headpieces, coats, and footwear?
Photo: Aidan Monaghan
How did that factor into the way you approached the costumes?
Its an idea that I totally agree with.
Maybe things like this happen that we dont know about.
Photo: Courtesy of Linda Muir
So are we looking at Romania, Transylvania, or Hungary?
Plus, I dont speak or read Romanian.
For the Bucovina Convent, trying to ascertain exactly what the great schema nun would look like was fascinating.
Photo: Aidan Monaghan
The layers of complexity in the research felt pretty mind-boggling on this one.
How did that translate into the clothes?
Its like a very detailed skeleton that Craig and I can take and start to do deeper research around.
Photo: Aidan Monaghan
Ellen is really the beating heart of this story.
Were there any real-life figures you looked to for inspiration?
It wasnt so much that it was a particular historical character or image.
Photo: Courtesy of Linda Muir
I was restrained by what would have been inappropriate during the period.
For whatever reason, ankles and wrists?
But you could certainly show shoulders and neck.
Photo: Courtesy of Focus Features
In Roberts female-led moviesthis andThe Witch,reallyI think hes a very feminist writer.
Not by banging us over the head with it, but its there in the dialogue and the action.
Often its a journey of finding these tasty little bits and presenting them to Robert.
Nicholas Hoult as Thomas Hutter and Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok
Its amazing how some of those details feel strangely contemporary.
The corsets over dresses are something weve seen on the runways, everywhere from Prada to Margiela.
I remember for Lily-Roses mourning outfit, we made a black petticoat.
She was like, Oh my God, I would wear this to a premiere.
I want one.Everyoneseemed to want a pair of the little lace fingerless gloves we made.
I have to ask you about that extraordinary bonnet Lily-Rose wears as part of her mourning outfit.
Where did that come from?
Thankfully, the mourning crepe, because of its transparency, worked perfectly.
It also created a darker version of the fragility you see in her costumes earlier.
What was your process in creating a costume for Orlok?
Did you work closely with makeup and prosthetics on that?
He wears one costume throughout, with or without the mente, the huge cloak.
Then we did a camera test in Prague quite early on.
It was like, Right, this is actually going to work.
One of the standout aspects of the film for me was the extraordinarily cohesive world-building.
Definitely, and it started pretty quickly.
That certainly furthered the ability to work together.
But, really, its Robert whos the conduit.
But Robert is always available to talk things through.
Its not often you have a director with that much going on in that noggin.
Its this constant back and forth of information and images, and its always articulated so clearly.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
