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. “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 Nebudchadnezzar, 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’ faux purple 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.
Fishburne, who says the Wachowskis describe the rebels’ clothing inside the Matrix as representative of armor, believes Morpheus’ sunglasses play a key role in his expression of the charismatic leader. In order to convey Morpheus’ vulnerability at a crucial point during the Freeway Chase, Fishburne chose not to wear the sunglasses. “When things get really hairy inside the Matrix, when Morpheus isn’t sure whether or not he’s going to get out, then they come off,” Fishburne says. “He’s got to fight with what’s inside him as opposed to what’s on the outside.”
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 specifically accommodated wire harnesses. Costumes for Hugo Weaving and his Agent Smith stunt doubles numbered in the hundreds.
But the single biggest challenge for Barrett and the Matrix wardrobe department was costuming the citizens of Zion – including the elaborate Temple sequence. “It was a mammoth undertaking,” Barrett admits. “We had over 1,000 extras to dress and all their clothes had to be very rusty, very simple but refined, in keeping with Zion.”
To make the task even more challenging, the costumers couldn’t use any store-bought clothing or synthetic material. “Zion is the center of the Earth and life is sustained in part by all this steam-driven machinery, so it’s very hot,” Barrett explains. “We imagined that they grow things by hydroponics because that process relies on water and heat. So we had to create clothing that could’ve been made from hemp, made from natural fibers, vegetable fibers. We researched ancient China and Mongolia and looked at a lot of the mummies that were buried in really beautifully woven natural fibers, before the advent of silks. We found shapes and textures that we thought were delicate and beautiful, but raw. And we tried to stay along that vein in our wardrobe for Zion.”
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