Aside from the exceptional cast, the film was a highly stylized feast for the eyes, complete hyperkinetic technicolor visuals, a contemporary soundtrack (The Cardigans! Garbage!), and costumes that we’re still fantasizing about 25 years later.Īhead, Barrett shares all of the details with 14 fun fashion facts about the film, from hidden messages in Danes’ angel costume to DiCaprio’s Prada suit. The film featured memorable performances from Harold Perrineau (in glorious drag), John Leguizamo (as one of the most fashionable villains of all time), and a baby Paul Rudd in what was probably the only cringey role in his career (aka Juliet’s dorky gentleman caller, Dave Paris). I think one of the strengths of the movie is that our characters were very clearly drawn and strong, and in the style of the movie we were making, that was appropriate.”ĭiCaprio and Danes portrayed the ill-fated young lovers with such genuine tenderness that it could break even the most bitter and jaded of hearts, but it wasn’t just the two leads who were able to translate that heavy Elizabethan English into something any plebe could understand. “We wanted them to straight away be drawn into this version of Romeo and Juliet, in our time with these young characters that people could identify with, even in their divisive religious culture. “We really dissected what Shakespeare was trying to say, and how we wanted the imagery to support those words and tell a visual story so that the audience had time to digest the Shakespeare language and not be locked out of it,” Barrett tells NYLON during a phone interview.
Barrett, who is also the costume designer behind The Matrix movies, Us, Aquaman, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, worked closely with Luhrmann and production designer Catherine Martin to create the wildly colorful world in which the Capulets inhabit. The wardrobe was opulent and beautifully garish, yet somehow timeless. The Montague and Capulet boy-gangs wore colorful Hawaiian shirts, cross necklaces, ornate gun holsters, and leather vests. They’ve also been referenced in other pop culture moments, including HBO’s Euphoria and Halsey’s music video for “Now or Never.”īut the lovers’ looks are just a small part of the costume design pie. For the love-at-first-sight scene, costume designer Kym Barrett put Danes in a white gown and angel wings and for DiCaprio, a knight costume - both looks that have been copied by fans every Halloween since the film debuted more than two decades ago.
After all, it’s been adapted time and time again.
When Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes first locked eyes during their iconic fish tank meet-cute in 1996’s Romeo + Juliet, Baz Luhrmann’s take on the Shakespearean love story, it was game over for anyone who thought they’d be unaffected by the centuries-old teenage tragedy.
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