Natalie Bronfman is the two-time Emmy-nominated eye behind the costume design for The Handmaid’s Tale. Supervising the creation of the show’s iconic red caped dresses and white bonnet hats since its 2017 debut, she more recently took over as lead costume designer for the show’s third season. Now that Bronfman is up for her third Emmy nomination, she speaks with us about the rich variety of design references that inspired season three of one of television’s most visceral drama series.
“It’s funny because I actually wanted to be an opera singer,” Bronfman admits, with a joyful demeanor in contrast with the dystopia she dresses. But it’s easy to see how her love for drama and theatrics shapes her eye for design. “I tend to like a post-war aesthetic, post Second World War, like [Federico] Fellini, that genre of films, and anything very historical. Even the original version of Cleopatra which was so over-the-top with Liz Taylor, but you look at it and it’s such a visual eye candy that you can watch it 10 times and there are more things that you see.”
