BY Freya Herrmann

The scene comes from the beginning of the award-winning Documentary film “Born in Evin”, in which Zaree tells the story of her family; a story of transgenerational trauma and resistance against the Iranian regime. She comments on the chador dressing with the words: "Our parents are fleeing Iran so that their children have to play such filth."

The beginning of BORN IN EVIN is one of the few documentary scenes in which a costume fitting is shown, the core of the costume design work. That touched me deeply. The conflict shown between the actress's knowledge and the intended costume concerns a problem that I see in our work: discriminatory costume images.

In her documentary, Zaree exposes the racialized view that the German television industry casts on her as a PoC actress. It is the view of a white dominant society on the role of a refugee, the idea that filmmakers associate with such a character. Zaree's body and the body of the role coincide. That is why it is shocking that apart from Zaree, no one seems to have thought about the implications of the choice of costume. The costume chosen is, as she says, poorly researched; instead of depicting the clothing of refugees, a racist stereotype is served.

Costumes are usually the first thing viewers see when a new character enters the frame in a film. Costume design turns actors into casual police officers in leather jackets and jeans, or innocent girls in red or white summer dresses. As costume designers, we direct the audience's attention to the character. How we create a character is a key factor in how the audience's sympathy is distributed - who is liked and who is not, who can expect sympathy and who is alienated. Othering is understood as the construction of an ‘other’ with the aim of excluding the person or group, thus othering from one's own "we" and thereby devaluing them.

Certain costume choices are repeatedly seen on German television. For example, the sex worker in a combination of neon pink, leopard print, net and hoop earrings. In nature, bright colors warn of poison, in German films, neon pink warns of low socioeconomic capital. Leopard print - originally in the form of fur, the costume of Egyptian priests at some point - has long since become a marker of frivolous femininity. The use of leopard print, ostentatiously charged with joy of staging, serves the function of alienating the character from a white middle-class audience, who are often the addressees of the narrative in German television productions. For many, offensive staging also means that the character is not to be taken seriously (female). The character of the sex worker also evokes images of Eastern European hyper-femininity through the costume and casting. A discriminatory and racist stereotype that is often taken to extremes by playing with accents.

For me, another form of discrimination through costume is the cliché of the gay bird of paradise. You might think that you can't tell that queer people are queer - but that's not the case in most youth series. Here, queers and especially gay people can be recognized in the long shot by the combination of at least four colors and a penchant for cuts and cut-outs from the 80s. Their story is often illustrated as a transformation into a cis-normative idea of queerness - a bird of paradise that becomes more colorful in every scene. By the happy ending, at the latest, the character has been othered beyond recognition and reduced to their visual entertainment value. There is little room for a multidimensional personality that allows identification. Rather, the exaggerated characters offer a target for right-wing hate comments and few opportunities for identification for young gender non-conforming people or queers.

The fact that costume images are similar is not surprising when you look at how homogeneous the group of costume designers is. As in most departments, there is a lack of diversity. Costume images shape and change the way we look at bodies and people. That is why it is political to stage sex workers, queers or refugees as individuals. In order to take this fact into account, it is essential as an image producer to know your own positioning and to critically question your own view of the world. We live in a white-dominated society in which racism and anti-Semitism, hostility towards people with disabilities and Muslims, fat shaming and other discriminatory practices are part of socialization. Reflecting on these influences self-critically in order to break free from them is a lengthy process. This requires questioning your own perspectives, listening to those affected, and recognizing wrong decisions, especially when they were made unintentionally and unconsciously. If we as costume designers don't do this work, we ensure that people are discriminated against. Image producers in all departments have the responsibility to educate themselves and position themselves.

Discriminatory staging does not take place in a vacuum, it is used by right-wing fascists. They feed the diffuse feeling and belief that non-binary people, trans people, BIPOCS and women can be dehumanized. Discriminatory images can also develop a life of their own and be used as a (meme) template for a digitally strengthening right. The AfD is already working towards seeing their far-right ideology represented in films with their motion "No ideologization of federal film funding—give effect to artistic freedom".

If the AfD has its way, German film should reflect its worldview. A return to "German values" would result in highly distorted and in many ways discriminatory productions. In terms of costume design, this would be the result: stereotypes, binary, othering and even more uniforms. That is why it is our job as costume designers to be experts in anti-discriminatory costume productions and to show solidarity with marginalized groups.

In recent years, discriminatory and racist practices in the film industry have finally been questioned in Germany. This has led to more BIPOCS being cast. At the same time, the film industry is not a safe space for racialized and marginalized people. This is why costume rehearsals were and are sometimes not a safe space. I hope we can change that. That we listen to those affected, recognize expertise, hold panels and read books. I hope we make it easier for marginalized people to get into costume design. I hope we commit to criticizing discrimination in costume design and recognize that our perspective is political and can change the world.

Freya Herrmann is a Costume Designer, cultural scientist and VSK member. With Vera Klocke and Jasper Landmann she produces the podcast “Fashion The Gaze”, which is about how staging in films, series and on social media shapes our present. For “Corso” and “Kompressor” on Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandfunk Kultur she analyzes they are (pop)cultural phenomena.