Clothing Steeped in History and Meaning: Inside the ‘Shōgun’ Costumes

“Shōgun,” the FX historical drama set in 17th-century Japan starring and produced by Hiroyuki Sanada, won a history-making 18 Emmys in September. One of those went to costume designer Carlos Rosario, who oversaw a team of 125 people responsible for producing thousands of garments for the cast and extras. He felt a deep responsibility that his work be historically accurate, so he sourced all of his fabrics from Japan and rented traditional Japanese clothing from the Sengoku era so that he and his team could study their construction and reproduce them using similar techniques.

“We rented [pieces] from Japan so we could understand the architecture, how they make them,” Rosario told TheWrap. “So our workroom, our cutter-fitters could actually make the clothing in the same way as Japanese cutter-fitters. Things like that the hats, when they’re wearing their ceremonial hats — also very specific — we wanted them to come from Japan. Even the cording, we looked everywhere, we couldn’t find the right cording and the right width that would actually dye in the colors that we wanted. Even the tassels, we actually had to bring them specifically from Japan and then dye them.” 

The tassels were part of the samurais’ armor, which all have engravings and embroidery that indicate the samurai’s rank and family. Referring to the elaborate crests found on samurai headgear (above), Rosario said, “Every clan has those, so it’s a way to recognize which [family] they are from.”

In the end, Rosario and his team made a stunning collection of garments, all lovingly infused with intricate details that help tell the story of Sanada’s Lord Toranaga and the people who make up his world.  

Lord Toranaga

“It was important to focus on the fact that [Toranaga] was a very powerful lord,” Rosario said. “And the way to show his power and wealth was through the fabrics.” The character wears sumptuous embroidered silks in rich chocolate browns, coppers, burgundies and golds that all telegraph opulence. And it turns out he’s a bit of a clotheshorse. “If you notice, specifically in the first episode, he actually changed his outfit in every single scene,” Rosario said. His hunting clothes (below) were called kari-shōzoku and consisted of several pieces, including a suikan (or kimono-like robe) and an ayai-gasa (straw hat).

In another scene, he attends a gathering with his fellow regents in a more formal hitatare, which we see Sanada wearing while hair and wardrobe assistants get him camera-ready (below). For this and every single other costume in the series, Sanada paid close attention to the details. “Hiroyuki Sanada was the most specific about it — and understandably so. He carries this project on his shoulders,” Rosario said. “He was very passionate about the project. Of course he wanted to make sure that everything would be respectful towards Japanese culture.”

Young Lord Toranaga

Above and below, this jinbaori (or vest worn over a samurai’s armor) is one of Rosario’s favorite pieces. He designed it for a young Toranaga, whom we meet in an Episode 8 flashback (played by Kai Coulter). “We bought dozens and dozens of peacock feathers that we put together from small to big and stitched by hand,” Rosario said. “It became such a beautiful piece that I thought, Well, let me go to talk to Mr. Sanada and ask him if that should be the jinbaori that he wears at the end of the battle of Sekigahara. He thought it was a great idea. And that was beautiful because it really is the beginning of the story of Toranaga. That costume tells the story about who this character is.”

Kashigi Yabushige

Kashigi Yabushige (played by Tadanobu Asano) is a cunning lord with slippery allegiance. “He’s this very complex, interesting character; you never know where he’s at,” Rosario said. “And so I felt like he would dress in a very different way than everybody else, maybe in a less classic way. I wanted to do something for him that was a bit more showy.” That included a jinbaori adorned with black feathers meant to evoke a raven. “I wanted an organic, natural element to be part of his clothing,” Rosario said. “But also, he was sort of like a rock ’n’ roll star, so that jinbaori design feels like a big fur coat.” It’s hard to catch in the series, but on the garment’s back, there is a piece of leather on which “Yahata” is written, a reference to the Japanese god of war whose name samurais would wear as a way to protect themselves (below). 

Lady Ochiba

The silks that Rosario sourced for the nobility’s costumes were so expensive that it seemed a crime to let any scrap go to waste. He used some leftover pieces to make a gold and white patchwork uchikake (coat) for Lady Mariko (Anna Sawai). He upcycled other scraps for an uchikake worn by the high-ranking Lady Ochiba (Fumi Nikaido). “I had to design that outfit very fast,” Rosario said. “So I went to the workroom. Everybody was gone. I saw the scraps of fabric on the floor and I took those pieces and cut them as fans. I applied them on the uchikake and then we did all this embroidery all around to make it look like it’s part of the uchikake. I love that idea. It’s very symbolic because she’s the most powerful lady in Osaka and she’s wearing pieces of fabrics of all the other ladies. Nobody will [notice] but it’s a beautiful detail for me.”

Lady Mariko

Lady Mariko is a tragic character. She is unhappily married and tries every year on her birthday to commit seppuku (suicide) to join her deceased family. In early episodes, we see her in icy white uchikakes with leafless branches that reflect her soul’s permanent winter. But slowly, she finds her voice and purpose, and her clothing comes to life with more colors and patterns of camellias in bloom. Toward the end of the season, though, the white garments return. “My idea was two things. First of all, the path towards empowerment is never linear,” Rosario said. “And the second thing is that she knows that … death is around the corner. So I found that those were two symbolic, dramatic, but also very poetic ways to express where she’s at through the clothing.”

A version of this story first appeared in the Below-the-Line issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine. Read more from the Below-the-Line issue here.

The post Clothing Steeped in History and Meaning: Inside the ‘Shōgun’ Costumes appeared first on TheWrap.