His most “super-green” costume is the head-to-toe leopard print catsuit with the avant-garde lapels, which match his radio crew, paired with the leopard print microphone and unicorn-esque blonde wig. In the airport scene, he cops an apocalyptic-esque bomber, possibly a reference to his military background, that feels inspired by the Issey Miyake FW96 parachute jacket and resembles a lot of Glenn Marten’s Diesel pieces of today. His initial costume, the orange backless tank top made of a rubber-like material, was a subtle nod to his Die Hard role – and was also embedded into Gaultier’s own house collections, although he had been doing cut-out menswear for years prior to the film. His outfits give a dystopian Ken-meets-Willis’ action characters.
#Fifth element costume skin
However, although significant for the role, Milla has mentioned the costume’s impracticality, explaining that the bandages were difficult for stunts: “There was a lot of skin showing, so I got pretty bruised up, because I couldn’t wear pads and things that other people could wear.”Īlso worth mentioning is Leeloo’s second costume, the white crop top with the orange rubber suspenders that perfectly paired Besson’s orange aesthetic for the film, which is still seen along with flame-orange wigs at Comicons around the world and given homage by different artists, including Doja Cat and Drag Race’s Aquaria.īruce Willis’ Korben Dallas is the toxic masculine cis man that we cannot escape – even in the 23rd century – and his clothing resembles his butch character.
#Fifth element costume movie
In a 2017 Vogue interview, Jovovich had said: “That just became the most unique costume that anyone had ever seen in a sci-fi movie at that point.” And that still stands today. The piece mirrors Gaultier’s own collections of cut-out dresses during the 90s, has been the inspiration for multiple designers, such as Alexander McQueen Spring 1998, and has been the foundation for subversive designs today from Ottolinger to fast fashion brands. Milla Jovovich in her recent Vogue video about the film mentioned that they were looking for something hospital gown-esque: “I said, ‘listen, what about bandages?’” she mused.
When Leeloo is first introduced, she is synthetically created in a capsule and dressed in the most memorable piece from the film, the bandage playsuit.
#Fifth element costume driver
The film follows Korben Dallas, an ex-special forces major and current taxi driver who stumbles upon humanoid and “supreme being” Leeloo, and they go on a mission to save the world, obviously. With a $90m budget, the most expensive production outside the US at the time, 1,000 pieces were designed by Gaultier for the film (including the costumes for all the extras – all of the aliens were dressed in couture), amounting to over 10 fashion collections for one movie. Fashion and pop culture Youtuber Mina Le has said about The Fifth Element in one of her videos: “It’s always tempting to make the colour scheme for a lot of sci-fi apocalyptic movies to be dark and grim and have the characters appear as such, but adding colour just makes the action so much more exciting.” Besson’s orange motif throughout the film, from Leeloo’s hair to Korben Dallas’ vest brings another layer of cohesion. It’s fun to see a vibrant, fun and cool conceptualisation of what people would wear in the 23rd century.
Looking back at its costume design created by French designer Jean Paul Gaultier – best known for his cone bra famously worn by Madonna, cut-out bandage dresses and French sailor-inspired uniforms – whose designs couldn’t be more current, with Gaultier mesh tops going up for £500 on Depop, Bella Hadid and Dua Lipa copping vintage JPG on their street style shots, and subversive basics taking over the fashion industry. Luc Besson’s 1997 film The Fifth Element celebrates its 25th birthday this month, and its visuals and cinematography are still standing strong, injecting a colourful life into the gloomy dystopian future.īut what really makes this film stand out in cinematic history are its costumes that, a quarter-century on, are more relevant than ever. Picture it, it’s the year 2263, humanity is still going strong despite climate change, there’s flying cars, and the fashion is out-of-this-world iconic.
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