The Umbrella Academy - Christopher Hargadon

The Umbrella Academy is an anti-superhero series streaming on Netflix that is based on graphic novels of the same name by Gerard Way (of My Chemical Romance). This highly imaginative, quirky series revolves around a dysfunctional family of adopted sibling superheroes who reunite to solve the mystery of their father’s death and the threat of an impending apocalypse.

This was a dream project! Together, with a wonderful crew and for three very busy seasons, I was able to do what I love – create costumes spanning decades, starting with the Edwardian period to present day – and with a large dose of fantasy thrown in.

Emmy® nomination 2021 – (Season 2) For Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes
CAFTCAD nomination 2023 – (Season 3) Best Contemporary Design (TV)

Season 3

Madness and Mayhem

In the third season, the Hargreeves siblings return to 2019 after preventing the apocalypse and find themselves in a new timeline where their father, Reginald Hargreeves, had adopted seven different children that have become “The Sparrow Academy”. The Sparrows ‘super-hero’ uniforms presented certain design challenges, as we wanted to create something that would reflect each of their unique talents. It was also important that the ‘super suits’ were more anti-hero than typically found in the ‘super hero’ genre, and so I chose a special leather in a rich, red colour that referenced their Academy uniforms and designed each suit to highlight the individual Sparrow’s special power and personality.

This season was a wonderfully creative challenge with many new characters; multiple time periods requiring specialty builds; and the design and fabrication of all other uniforms including the Oblivion Guardians, Hotel Obsidian staff, and various military.

Season 2

Too Hot to Handle

As the second season opens, the siblings are scattered around Dallas, Texas, at different times in the early 1960s. Five arrives there on November 25, 1963, minutes before a nuclear doomsday and needs to travel back in time again, to right things. While being hunted by a trio of Swedish assassins, Five finds his siblings, who have all made new lives, and attempts to reunite them, to stop this new apocalypse.

During this season we get to know “The Handler”, first introduced in Season 1, and wonderfully played by Kate Walsh, who brings tremendous energy and humour to her character – a sociopathic, narcissistic assassin with great style. All of the Handler’s ensembles we custom designed and built; a fanciful take on the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s with period accessories and jewellery to accentuate her villainy.

Season 1

Imagination Takes Flight

On one day in 1989, 43 infants are inexplicably born to random, unconnected women who showed no signs of pregnancy the day before. Seven are adopted by billionaire industrialist Sir Reginald Hargreeves, who creates the Umbrella Academy and prepares his “children”, to save the world. In their teenage years, though, the family fractures and the team disbands. Fast forward to the present time, when the six surviving members of the clan reunite upon the news of Hargreeves’ passing.

I was able to draw ideas from the darkly humorous scripts with these richly developed characters, while taking inspiration from the graphic novels.