Vampires are an everlasting being, an iconic figure of horror, an elegant and sensual monster. Vampires are also a great inspiration for fashion and couture, due to the costumesque image that society has imposed on them with time. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the costume design by Eiko Ishioka captures the aesthetic menace embodied by undead characters. Ishioka is known for referencing popular media in her design such as cosplay, video games and drag. Her extravagance created a new, culturally-mixed style in costume design. In Dracula, Ishioka employs elements of non-conformity to signify rebellion – which is exactly what avant-garde fashion is about.
Ishioka was given free-rein by Coppola in the designs, and the fantasy behind the costumes of the movie. Her costumes brought the count to life in a way that freed him from the stereotypical “black cape and elegant evening wear” trope the character has been typically associated with. At the beginning of the movie, Vlad's armor is a nightmare of solidified musculature, sinew externalized into a bloody sculpture. He's a flayed and lost man whose insides have turned to a melange of wolf and human anatomy.
The Armor
The armor of the pre-vampire Dracula, resembles a muscle suit, and it’s one of the most memorable costumes in the movie. The armor is symbolic for Ishioka, who expressed her desire to break fashion boundaries and convey a fusion of culture: blending the East and the West, existing between the European-Anglo backdrop versus the futuristic Japanese samurai aesthetics giving it a richer old-world look.
It also clearly took inspiration from the character of the oni – giant demons/trolls in Japanese folklore, known for their fully red look and pointy horns and teeth. The costume’s mask itself specifically embodies and reminds us of the traditional oni masks used in various traditional ceremonies and performances throughout Japan. The armor is full of symbolism and foreshadowing: the crimson color makes him the center of every scene and refers to the blood he’s about shed and the blood that he’s going to drink later on. The wolf helmet too is a foreshadowing to the creature he’ll become later on in the movie.
The muscular costume also hints at drag and punk culture, an example of this influence could be seen in the famous Lady Gaga meat dress that she wore in for the 2010 MTV Music Awards and also her muscle costume that she wore in her music video of “Marry The Night” by Philipino artist Leroy Nguyen. On the other side, on the runways, Gareth Pugh reinterpreted the body armor for his Fall Winter 2008 collection.
The Gown
Though the movie is set in the Victorian era, Dracula’s post-vampiric gown almost reminds us of an Oriental-themed Guo Pei style silken robe. The robe is seen on an older Dracula, far from the strong battle-hardened warrior we first saw. The robe has a heavy Oriental theme embedded into it as the armor did. It’s a voluminous kimono-inspired crimson red robe with Dracula’s family crest embroidered in gold; the several feet long trail that follows behind him paints the screen crimson as he walks. The look is finished off with a great white wig, giving him an otherworldly look. It almost looks like a softer version of the wolf ears on the armor. This look was a source of inspiration for many avant-garde brands. Not only the robe, but also makeup, hair and the essence of this depiction has been canonized by iconic designers.
The kimono was also inspiration for Rei Kawakubo’s 1996 “flowers and clothes” collection in which mirrors a transgressive and ostentatious Dracula dressing. Comme Des Garcons also took inspiration from it for its 2015 Collection “Roses and Blood” and then in Spring Summer 2020 for the elaborate demonic hairstyle coupled with the profanity of red. Another example is McQueen’s closing look for its Fall Winter 2008 collection that was inspired by a unique mix of Queen Victoria, the Duke of Wellington and the Indian Empire, which then created the perfect culture mix of the east and the west as Ishioka did too. Eiko Ishioka and her avant-garde costuming, creatively cuts the lines of art and was inspiration from media and counterculture.
Conclusion
The costumes serve as a visual representation of the commitment to the patriarchal values of these vampires, one in which they never lose their self and their own identity, not even through their lavishing and eye catching clothes, even if there is the danger of being persecuted for their difference. These costumes are here to show the difference and the uniqueness of these already different beings in society. As in the actual world where people are shamed and ridiculed for having a different style preference and are sometimes seen as an outcast, an alien, a reject.
