Sugar Costume Designer on the 1960s Film Noir That Inspired Colin Farrell’s Look

Apple TV+’s neo-noir thriller Sugar stars Colin Farrell as a surprisingly sensitive private detective investigating the mysterious disappearance of a famous Hollywood producer’s granddaughter. Costume designer Christie Wittenborn decided to make her wardrobe as versatile and complex as John Sugar himself.

“John Sugar has this deep empathy and compassion for people. There’s a lot of that in Colin,” says Wittenborn. Filmmaker. “You don’t see that a lot in film noir detectives, because they’re tough, bitter, brooding, jaded, you know – it’s so refreshing to see the way his character evolves and works in these dark shadows of Los Angeles.”

Although the eight-episode first season, now streaming on Apple TV+, is set in the present day, it has a vintage-inspired film noir look and feel.

To create Farrell’s character’s iconic look — which starts with a classic black suit with a dark tie and crisp white shirt and evolves as the series becomes more complex — she and Farrell sat down together to discuss their inspirations.

“I met Colin and we were very aligned on the research and the elements I was bringing to the table,” she says.

For the overall look of the costumes, Wittenborn took inspiration from classic film noirs like the 1946 film. The big sleep starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and the 1967 French film THE Samurai with Alain Delon, François Périer, Nathalie Delon and Cathy Rosier.

“The one that stood out was the Samurai In my opinion. Just that specific style and silhouette. This is what I used as a reference point. I love that movie,” she says. “So when I talked to Colin about it, he said it was perfect. And Colin also had specific references in mind, including Frank Sinatra and the way which he wore his costumes.

Read also: Colin Farrell thought his career was toast after Alexander Bombarded: “I had been discovered”

Learn more about Colin Farrell Sugar Wardrobe

The simplicity of Sugar’s main uniform allowed Wittenborn to maintain a consistent color palette across all mediums as the show transitioned from black and white to color. It also gave him a nice palette to play with.

“It has to work both ways,” she says. “It looked very much like that uniform that would like to be throughout the show, but as her character evolved and we moved further… I started introducing different fabrics, like mohair. Mohair has this texture and shine.

She also had to think about how Farrell’s costumes would work in action scenes involving a lot of movement.

“He has a lot of stunts. He’s an athlete, he’s someone who jogs all the time. So you have to make sure that everything is suitable to work on your athletic physique, and so building your suits was essential for me. I knew I was going to build all of his costumes because I wanted to make sure it would work for him,” she says.

The series also stars Kirby, Amy Ryan, Sydney Chandler, Dennis Boutsikaris, Nate Corddry, Alex Hernandez, James Cromwell, Anna Gunn and Eric Lange.

The rest of the Sugar the craft team includes casting directors Sherry Thomas, Sharon Bialy and Rebecca Mangieri; cinematographer César Charlone; production designer Tom Foden; production designer Kathy Orlando; head hairstylist Dennis Parker; head makeup artists Toni G. Denise Paulson; editors Fernando Stutz and John Petaja; composers Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Youngel; music supervisor Gabe Hilfer; supervising sound editor Onnalee Blan and Branden Spencer; re-recording mixers Brian Tarlecki and Richard Kitting, and design of main tracks by Digital Kitchen.

Main image: Colin Farrell in Sugarcourtesy of Apple TV+.