Dishonored 2
Dishonored 2 Inspired Fashion from Designer Maya Hansen
Dishonored 2
We’re happy to announce that Maya Hansen, the famous fashion designer behind the MAYA HANSEN label, has created two new outfits in collaboration with Arkane Studios, inspired by Dishonored 2’s Emily Kaldwin and Delilah Copperspoon. We talked to Hansen about these two new looks, her inspiration and the process of collaborating with Bethesda and Arkane.
Was this your first game-related project? How do you find this industry from an artistic point of view?
Yes, it’s our first collaboration with a videogame company, although we have partnered before with other artists like musicians, singers, painters, etc. I found it very interesting working on a character based on the designs and ideas that have been created for the game because we, as fashion designers, can contribute our own point of view to support the development of the game narrative.
What did you think of Dishonored 2’s universe? What themes did you draw inspiration from?
I found the concept very interesting and inspiring. The combination of Victorian aesthetics with dark characters and a touch of steampunk is something that has been present during the process, and I have also been using these a lot in my collections. I enjoyed being exposed to this idea from a different point of view and being able to expand such an inspiration in several different and more innovative directions that maybe the game designers didn’t think about.
How do you see Emily? What part of her character did you want to illustrate with your design?
I think Emily is a very dynamic character, and she feels very modern and mysterious at the same time. The character seems to have a darkness about her and this is what we wanted to highlight; that’s the reason we went with black for her clothes and why we wanted to use technical materials like neoprene and fishnets, but also comfortable materials that allow mobility and adapt to her athletic body shape. All of her clothing is basically black except for a few golden patterns that show, again, a more classical, intricate, and opulent style.
And what about Delilah? What inspired when you were designing her look? What part of her personality did you want to stress with this outfit?
For me, Delilah is a woman with a strong inner life, a very tormented person. That might be the reason why her clothing is so theatrical and dramatic. She has this need to express that she’s been through a lot and that her life matters. I wanted to highlight her figure and that’s the reason we chose to use a corset on top of the shirt. It was a way to rescue that Victorian feel of the game and emphasize the complexity of the character by superposing clothes.
What makes these two characters interesting from a fashion perspective?
It’s really fascinating to discover how extensively the designers of the game developed them both. It was impressive to receive so much information in advance. Once we started defining their style, it was relatively easy to offer different possibilities. It’s very interesting to have that much information about the characters for which you are going to design something, because they are the ones that will tell you what kind of fabric, what colours, or what shapes they would like to wear.
How was it designing outfits for characters that live in a fantasy world, set in another time period?
We have more freedom in the sense that - although we follow a particular historical moment dated at the end of the twentieth century with a certain steampunk, neogothic influence - since it’s a fantasy world, you can allow different ideas to what was used in that period in the real world. That applies to all the details in the clothing, brooches, lapels, fabrics, and so on.
Could you ever see people wearing clothing like this in the real world?
Yes, of course. A lot of the garments come from similar patterns that we have designed in previous collections and, as a matter of fact, our forte is creating garments that step away from the conventional.
I've seen people wearing even more extreme versions of these outfits. You just have to look in the right places. If you travel to Leipzig during Whitsuntide, you'll have the chance to see the Wave Gothik Treffen. We’ve been going there for six years in a row and we have enjoyed the creativity of the people. If you go there, you'll be able to see thousands of people with the most varied outfits that follow this dark Victorian style. It’s amazing how much dedication and passion they have. We’ve created many of those outfits.
