Costume designer Kym Barrett designed literally thousands of costumes for The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, evolving the trilogy’s wardrobe to suit the characters’ growth while maintaining continuity between the three films. "Neo and Trinity each take a long journey in the first movie, and become different people," observes Barrett, who gave birth twice during the course of production of the trilogy. "Neo is no longer concerned with whether or not he’s the One, and Trinity is certain of her love for Neo and her belief in him. We tried to reflect their new confidence in what they wear."
Barrett’s wardrobe for Morpheus needed to reflect his growing leadership role in the rebellion against the Machines. "Everyone looks grungier in the real world than they do in the Matrix, but Morpheus always maintains poise," Barrett notes. "He draws strength from his conviction that Neo is the One and will end the war, and that confidence radiates in the way he wears his clothes, whether he’s on the hovercraft, in Zion or in the Matrix."
"Kym is a creative genius," Laurence Fishburne attests. "It’s the little things she does. For instance, the shoes she chose for Morpheus – they’re such cool shoes. I loved those shoes! They made the character."
All the shoes worn by the principle actors, including Morpheus’ purple faux alligator boots, were designed by Barrett and handmade by Andre No. 1. Multiple pairs were crafted for each character to outfit the actor plus his or her stunt performers.
As she did for The Matrix, Barrett had to create multiple versions of each character’s wardrobe to accommodate the demands of various scenes: duplicate clothing made with stretchier material allowed for better movement in the fighting and action sequences, and other sets of wardrobe were specifically designed to accommodate wire harnesses. Costumes for Hugo Weaving and his Agent Smith stunt doubles numbered in the hundreds.
During the climactic, rain-drenched Super Burly Brawl showdown between Smith and Neo, Weaving, Reeves and numerous Smith doubles spent nearly two months shooting in a torrential downpour. "Our department worked out an elaborate system for keeping everyone warm, dry and safe in their costumes," recalls Barrett. "We anticipated a certain rate of attrition with the actors due to them having to stand there under those conditions for twelve hours a day for two months, so the team worked very hard to make sure everyone’s wet suits were as comfortable as possible. We had a split crew, so we had people working almost twenty-four hours around the clock to make sure everything was dried and ready for the morning."
Under the direction of head hairstylist Judy Cory, the Matrix Hair Department created 182 "Hugo wigs" to cover all the Smith doubles and account for multiple changes due to the rain. As Weaving recalls, "All my doubles were standing there with their hair staying up beautifully in the rain, but even with massive amounts of hairspray, my hair started to just fall down in my face. So I had to put on a wig of my own hair!"
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