The hidden meanings behind the Oscar-winning costumes of del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’

If you've been scrolling through your feeds since the 98th Academy Awards wrapped up, you already know everyone is obsessing over Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. The 2026 Oscar ceremony belonged to this dark masterpiece. But beyond the incredible acting, there's one massive talking point taking over the internet right now. We are, of course, talking about the wardrobe. New Zealand costume designer Kate Hawley just snagged the Oscar for Best Costume Design. Honestly? It was incredibly well-deserved, especially coming hot on the heels of her BAFTA win for the exact same film. What makes Hawley's work so viral right now isn't just that the clothes look beautiful on screen. It’s how she used them. Hawley reportedly treated the movie's script like her ultimate Bible. Instead of simply dressing the actors, she actually wove their psychological states, character arcs, and deep thematic foreshadowing straight into the fabric. Here is a closer look at the genius details you might have missed.Take Victor Frankenstein, brought to life by Oscar Isaac. At the start of the movie, Victor looks pristine. He is a perfectly put-together, sharply dressed dandy. You wouldn't guess the madness hiding underneath. However, the deeper he falls into his grim obsession with waking the dead, the more his style unravels. The sharp tailoring vanishes. Soon, his outfits are completely wrecked and disheveled, acting as a raw, physical mirror of a man whose paranoia is completely taking the wheel.And then you notice the colors. Red absolutely dominates Victor's world. It isn't just a random aesthetic choice; it's a heavy, symbolic anchor that pops up constantly. You catch striking flashes of it everywhere - on his gloves, that dramatic cape, and even the very sheets on his bed. This isn't just for a pop of color. It emotionally tethers Victor right back to his core trauma: the devastating loss of his mother.Speaking of his mother, Claire, Mia Goth pulls off a fascinating dual role here. As Claire, Hawley dressed Goth in an absolutely magnificent blood-red gown. She paired it with a unique veil that flows around her exactly like water. The heavy, striking use of red acts as a massive visual omen for her tragic death during childbirth. And as fans know, that specific death is the exact catalyst that pushes Victor to play God.But Goth also plays Elizabeth, the absolute grounding force of the story. Elizabeth is all about enlightenment, deep empathy, and a strong connection to nature. To show this, Hawley primarily dressed her in rich shades of green. It gives her a really calming, almost otherworldly presence on screen. Her shimmering aesthetic sometimes even resembles an iridescent beetle.The real showstopper, though? Her ivory-colored wedding dress. The sleeves of the gown are designed to look remarkably like bandages. It’s a brilliant, haunting design choice that visually connects her empathy straight to the wrapped-up Creature.And finally, we have Jacob Elordi as the Creature. How do you dress a man made of discarded pieces? You do the exact same thing with his clothes. Just like his tragic body is stitched together, his outfits are a completely cobbled-together assortment of whatever random scraps he can scavenge. By the film's haunting end, the Creature wears a heavy fur cloak. If you look closely, it's stained with subtle shades of blood. It feels rugged and deeply primal. Yet, beautifully, Hawley designed the fur so it catches the sunlight, perfectly symbolizing his emotional journey toward a new, albeit tragic, dawn.It’s no wonder Hawley took home the golden statue. She didn't just design clothes for these characters; she stitched their very souls into the wardrobe.