Costume Designer Esther Marquis Makes Sci-Fi Space Travel Look Realistic on TV
CFA alum and costume designer Esther Marquis makes sci-fi space travel look realistic on TV—and designs outfits for real-life astronauts
Esther Marquis (CFA’91,’92) leads the costume design department for the Apple TV+ science fiction drama For All Mankind. Photo by Patrick Strattner
From Sketch to Screen
CFA alum and costume designer Esther Marquis makes sci-fi space travel look realistic on TV—and designs outfits for real-life astronauts
In the opening sequence of For All Mankind’s fourth season on Apple TV+, a Russian cosmonaut glides through space. A boxy backpack holds his life support systems. He gazes through his helmet’s panoramic visor at his destination, an asteroid the crew hopes to mine. Then, he reaches out and drags a thickly gloved hand across the rocky surface, raising a puff of black dust. If not for the impeccable cinematography and dramatic music, viewers just might believe they were watching the first human land on an asteroid.
The primary conceit of the science fiction drama is that Russia beat the
US to the moon in 1969. The show is sci-fi and historical fiction at the same time, an ambitious piece of storytelling that spans decades. “The biggest challenge is not sending people to Mars but making them look believable once they arrive,” New York Times critic Alexis Soloski wrote about the show. The person responsible for those looks—from the cosmonaut’s space suit to a NASA engineer’s tweed blazer—is costume designer Esther Marquis.
Marquis (CFA’91,’92) began her career as a costume designer in theater, then spent several years as a film and television textile artist, the person responsible for aging and dyeing clothing to make it look realistic. Accepting a role as a costume design assistant on season three of For All Mankind was a step to getting back into design. When the head designer left in the middle of the season, Marquis was promoted to lead the department.
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