Threads of Mourning Costume Process

Jun 12

3 min read

Script and Directing by Janka Gerber

Creative Direction, Visual Design & Executive Production by Melina Odette

This is a visual breakdown of my process creating Threads of Mourning: the collection. From June 2025 to May 2026, I produced, designed, and marketed this project. From costume to set to social media. I handled all the visual elements for this film.

Costume Design

Initial Mood Boards- focusing on material and silhouette

Overall mood for the collection and visual aesthetic

Heavily mixing historical Victorian fashion with Gothic motifs

Material & Embellishment Guide

emphasis on silver as the only metal, no gold!
Consistent color palette is one of my strongest convictions in design

All colors lean cool-toned!!
Ada & Sabine meant to reflect light and dark; both palettes include a grey tone and complementary color but heavily contrast with black and white.

Character Aesthetic Design

First cover graphic concept I designed for Threads, with tintype photos from filming, shot by Miki Lansdowne. After doing this, needles were a solidified motif, and I wanted them to be present in all final designs.

The lamb, the light, the angel. Ada, though having known death well, represents purity, as her loss has not corrupted her like's sabine's did. I imagine her as a curious fawn, one who has shaken hands with death and politely introduced herself. Her curiosity towards the dark remains a contrast to her white spirit, as pure as a flame.

While on screen at night, Ada is only seen in cream colors as everything in the manor around her remains very dark. She is the Angel.

Sabine

Sabine, my dark muse, has become so disfigured by death's hand and the curious confines of Victorian mourning practice that she sees no barriers between her living flesh and that of her deceased. Guided by severe piety, she unravels strangely and violently.

Only seen wearing black throughout the film, except for a red rosary around her waist in the first scene. She carries the blood of her losses with her.

Digital illustrations of Sabine's 3 looks drawn in Dec 2025

AI Collection Mockups

Sabine Intro Look
Sabine Nightgown
Sabine Final Mourning

I began with technical flats drawn in Procreate and used NewArc AI to create realistic garment visualizations through detailed design prompts and fabric specifications.

Final AI Collection Ideation

Exploring this technology allowed me to expand my creative process, though I still prefer to design by hand, as there were many details I intended these garments to have that the AI was not able to understand and include.

Collection Development

I made every look in my home studio through January and February, designing, draping, patterning, and sewing everything. The velvet dress by far took me the longest, as my sewing machine hated the fabric, and the waist smocking took me almost 15 hours. Underskirt on final mourning gown by Ro Lefebvre

Details/Accessory

Bts photos from set where I finally got to style everything. Each look featured some kind of cross jewelry to show both the girl's religious devotion and their superstition in the presence of death. Ada first arrives in a grey suit with black polkadots as recognition that she has met death before but is not currently in mourning. As she is stripped down in the manor, Ada is only seen wearing white, a contrast between her purity and the darkness she unknowingly came into.

Me on set, wearing the nightgown I found for Dahlia.

Polaroids

Months after the film wrapped, I threw together a shoot to document the clothes as I envisioned them together, as a collection. I styled each look with original headpieces and jewelry.