Alexis Forte: The Costumes of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

The Ghostbusters answered the call once again on the silver screen in the latest installment of the pop culture phenomenon, Frozen Empire–continuing the sequel story that started with Afterlife while truly elevating the throwback and nostalgia feel. With the original cast joining the new generation of Ghostbusters once again, Frozen Empire returned to New York where the unsung heroes were faced with a new, terrifying enemy that has brought a second ice age to the city. Where Afterlife was a satisfying comeback to the series that started back in 1984, Frozen Empire served the fans well with its authenticity while expanding upon the classic tropes and feel of the franchise–particularly with its costumes. In celebration of Ghostbusters’ 40th anniversary, Alexis Forte unraveled the secrets behind the recreation of the iconic jumpsuits, their evolution for the Paranormal Research Center team, and the all-new eye-catching red parkas in Frozen Empire.

Costume designer Alexis Forte shared that her favorite memories of Ghostbusters came from her mother who was living in New York right when the first film came out, always telling her fun stories about how it unexpectedly took the city by storm. Years later, this fond childhood connection and her passion for costume design aligned into an opportunity of a lifetime, assisting Danny Glicker for the franchise’s return, Ghostbusters: Afterlife and eventually becoming the costume designer (alongside Ruth Myers) for Frozen Empire. “It felt like we were really part of something magical, a part of movie history. The Reitmans have this beautiful family legacy, and being able to contribute in recreating these stories with them and the rest of the team was a true honor,” she said.

Recreating the jumpsuits for the new films was arguably the most daunting task for the costume department since the originals from the 1980s were neither in the Sony archives nor did the Reitmans own them. Luckily, the Ghostbusters fandom is a loyal one, and the costume department was able to contact a collector who owned one of the originals–but that was just the first piece of the puzzle. Forte explained, “We laid it out and measured all the pockets. The original suits were bought off the shelf, and unfortunately they no longer make that exact model … There is no 100% cotton ripstop in the modern ones, which are instead made of smarter tech fabrics, with different pockets and zippers. So instead of altering the store-bought suits, we just made them all from scratch.” Then she added about the aging process, “Normally, before you make something, you wash the fabric so that the seams don’t seize up after you sew. But for this, we made the suits without washing the fabric so that when you sew all the pieces together and then throw it in the washing machine, the fabric would shrink, creating little puckering on all the seams to make it look like it’s been very lived in.”

As the Ghostbusters team expanded, in Frozen Empire we finally got a new twist of the classic jumpsuit for the Paranormal Research Center, this time favoring darker tones and a new patch for the engineering team. Alexis Forte explained the approach taken for branching out of an iconic look to serve the storyline: “It was scripted that it was a black Ghostbusters suit, but we didn’t want it to read sleek black or futuristic or anything that didn’t feel grounded within the Ghostbusters world, which should feel very accessible and lived in. We used the same cotton ripstop in black, and then we would wash it back a lot and use color remover and enzyme washes to give it that washed out look after the suits are made. I also changed some design elements. I’ve got to say, I’m not a fan of the elbow pads that go over the suit [laughs] but they’re very important to the Ghostbusters look (safety first). We figured in the lab you don’t need them; however, I still wanted to do a nod towards the elbow pads, so the seams around each elbow create a sort of shadow elbow pad. Also, I replaced the velcro at the cuffs and at the waist for snaps because I felt like velcro is not good to have in a lab; it’s not very hygienic. Then I added extra little pockets where you could put a notepad or a pen to make it a bit more user friendly. And then of course, the new engineer patch.”

In the final act of the film, New York completely froze, which created a need for some of the Ghostbusters to bundle up in these new red winter parkas. Interestingly enough, although these new designs were heavily featured in the marketing campaign, fewer Ghostbusters actually wore them (similarly to the gray jumpsuits from Ghostbusters II). Alexis Forte said, “I was coming up with different ideas, and then Gil [Kenan], our director, got this original poster for the very first movie, black with the No-Ghost logo in the center. Gil was like, ‘I love the red that’s used in this poster. I would love it if we could find moments to incorporate this red because it’s just extra vibrant.’” So the costume designer found ways to sprinkle in the color during the final act of the film–in Callie Spengler’s gloves, in Podcast’s scarf, in Lars’s tie–and ultimately the parkas, truly bringing the red to the forefront. “I didn’t want them to look too much like a fireman jacket, so we found this great Canadian brand named Wuxly. It felt very serendipitous because so many of the original Ghostbusters are Canadian. They’re also eco and vegan coats, and Gil is vegan. Their coats are made so well that it just was a little too high-tech for us. So I took off everything that was reflective, the high-tech fabrics at the cuffs, the back flap, re-patterned everything, and added the Ghostbusters belt. [Writer and producer] Jason Reitman felt like the shoulders should have the same design that the Ghostbusters suits have, which is a line that goes over the shoulders, so I got the cotton ripstop that we used on the suits and dyed it red to match the coats and replaced this whole section.” Each parka took about two days (a total of ten were created for the film, plus two for Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman), Forte admitting with a laugh that she created a true nightmare for her team.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was full of easter eggs, which Alexis Forte didn’t even think anyone would notice. Although Ray Stantz’s blue jean jacket with a corduroy (very similar to the one he wore in the 1984 film) and Trevor Spengler’s Martha’s Vineyard shirt were sort of obvious to Ghostbusters fans, the costume department took it to the next level by hiding a secret pattern in one of Phoebe Spengler’s shirts: “She wears this red camp shirt that has all these little circles and semicircles in it. Those are the symbols on the side of the proton pack. We created the pattern, and then I had it silkscreen on the fabric. It’s so fun adding these little easter eggs here and there,” Forte revealed.

In the end, a total of seventy-seven suits were made for Afterlife, with Frozen Empire increasing the count to eighty-nine for covering all screen versions–from slime to frozen, all practical. For the former, “we had to discover ways of creating something that would still look slimy but be dry to the touch, which ended up being painted silicone. So Lars’ jacket is full of silicone at the very end, and anytime that Trevor gets Slimer in the face, that’s a silicone over the t-shirt. I feel part of the Ghostbusters magic is to create everything practically … it has that sort of eighties feel to it,” Forte explained.

The amazingly iconic costumes of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire have already inspired fans and cosplayers from around the world. If you are one of them, make sure to follow Alexis Forte on Instagram to learn more about her costume design process for these movies and to stay up to date with her future projects.