Hunters

Inspired by Operation Paperclip — the secret intelligence program which brought over 1,600 Nazi scientists to the United States — Hunters follows an eclectic band of Nazi hunters in 1977 Brooklyn, New York as they seek justice and thwart the plans of the emerging fourth reich. I worked on costume designer John Dunn’s team as the assistant costume designer in charge of custom builds and shopping for principals as well as background. Over the course of the 10-episode first season, we built over 200 custom pieces for both the late 1970s and flashbacks to Europe during WWII.

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A notable challenge of this show were the costume multiples it required from our team in order to facilitate the action-packed, stunt-fueled escapades which the characters find themselves entangled in. Clothing gets bloodied, torn, set on fire, and covered in manure — just to name a few scenarios! Since it is a period show, I either had to source actual vintage pieces in multiples, or alternatively, I would swatch materials and then coordinate with various tailoring teams to build the necessary garments.

Season 1 Stills

Behind-the-Scenes Process Photos

Swatching to be reviewed + research boards

Red leather glove selection shopped for "Meyer"

Red leather gloves worn in episode 1

"Jonah" jeans we had custom built in multiples of 4

Inspired from true late 1970s vintage Levi's

The denim had to be taken to a stone washer to achieve the perfect "lived in" look

"Jonah" wearing said custom built jeans in 105

"Jonah" research inspiration

T-shirt and denim jacket we built for "Jonah" inspired by research

"Made to Order" record sheet

"Meyer" in custom built silk pyjamas

The silk was custom dyed

Swatches of tie fabrics built for "Meyer"

"Meyer" in custom shirting, suit and tie

Records of the fabrics used for the suit in previous photo

Cheat sheet for myself of shirts being built for "Meyer"

Green velvet smoking jacket built for "Meyer"

Fabrics used for "Meyer" smoking jacket

"Meyer" finale gold pyjamas and robe built

Fabrics used for "Meyer" gold pyjamas; custom dyed

So much yarmulke shopping!

Research inspiration for "Roxy" Bat Mitzvah change

The final result we were able to achieve for "Roxy" Bat Mitzvah outfit

"Roxy" jumpsuit research

"Roxy" jumpsuit change based on research

More "Roxy" research

Outfit we created based on the previous research for episode 104

While we rented the striped pyjamas, we had to build all the identification badges

Swatching for Jewish star badges

Badges being worn

There were different colored triangles to identify why the particular person had been imprisoned.

Background actor wearing pink triangle badge

Insignia research

Record keeping for fabrics used for badges

Shopping for religious jewelry stock

"The Colonel" wearing a 1940s-inspired militaristic jacket we built

The vintage jacket which inspired our build

In process - deciding button placement

Button selection - a unique "buckle"-like button

In a jewelry search for "The Colonel" I was able to find and negotiate use of this bracelet, an actual relic.

The relic when I found it. Scary!

This hat we had built for "The Colonel" was inspired by a vintage hat, which unfortunately was too small. So, we built a new one!

The original vintage hat we were inspired by

Sourcing the hat body and grosgrain ribbons

Our finished product!

My daily shopping list, and bracelet I had to find similar of.

Selected shirting fabrics for FBI agent "Millie"

Green suit and periwinkle blue shirt we built for "Millie"

Fabrics used for previous "Millie" suit. A fun little lining to make it more feminine per actress' request

70s shoe shopping

My incoming shopping board - how I keep track of what's in play

"Gretel" inspiration

Swatching for "Gretel" based on previous research

"Gretel" wearing the dress we built for her

"Mindy" wedding dress. Built using the pink vintage dress (left) as inspiration for the shape, remade using the blue fabric (right).

Trying to replicate the shirring and faggoting as close to the original vintage dress as possible

"Mindy" + "Murray" in their custom built wedding outfits

"Murray" tuxedo research inspiration

Swatching for "Murray" tux

The Groom in his custom made pleated tuxedo shirt

Originally the tux front was gathered like this.

I coordinated with the pleater to remove the gathers and re-create it as a pleated tux front, using the original vintage fabric.

We also made custom silk faille bow ties with matching cummerbunds for the groom + groomsmen

The wedding party, episode 106

Our research inspiration for the bridesmaids

We custom built the bridesmaids' lace hats. This is the final hat.

Background actress portraying a bridesmaid

Fabrics used for the lace hats; they were custom dyed

"Aaron" in his ghost outfit from 1943

Fabrics for "Aaron" build

"Heinz" in his custom made polo

Fabric I sourced and used for "Heinz" shirt, ep 101

"Huntsville" commercial, ep 105

Sourcing the pieces; here is the hat.

"Hunstville" commercial, ep 105

Sourcing the apron.

"Katarina" shoes - episode starts with a close up and then pan out on these heels

Sourcing the heels.

"Katarina" red heels, ep 105

"Tilda" wearing custom built Chanel-inspired suit

Selected swatch for "Tilda" suiting, and my personal custom made swatch cards for organizational purposes

We had to build multiples of this suit...you can see why.

Four very large binders of all the custom builds we did for season 1. Phew!

Watch the Trailer

You can stream Hunters Season 1 on Amazon Prime Video. Starring Al Pacino, Logan Lerman, Jerrika Hinton and more. Produced by David Weil, Nikki Toscano, Jordan Peele and others. See full Cast + Crew here.