Screen Rant interviews Bernadette Croft, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' costume designer, about the show's Starfleet uniforms and alien designs.

The amazing costumes in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, designed by Costume Designer Bernadette Croft and her team, are a key reason why the Paramount+ series has been such a hit with Trekkers. A prequel set nearly a decade before Captain Kirk takes command of the Starship Enterprise, Strange New Worlds' Starfleet uniforms are a colorful throwback to the classic look of the 1960s TV series yet fully updated for modern times.

In addition, each planet Captain Christopher Pike's (Anson Mount) Enterprise visits each week brings new alien races, which have their own specific look and feel that Bernadette envisions and designs. Croft and her team have created many striking and memorable extraterrestrial looks so far, with more to come in the rest of Strange New Worlds season 1 and next year's season 2.

Related: Wait, Does Burnham Know About Sybok In Star Trek: Discovery?

Screen Rant chatted with Bernadette Croft about all of the costumes seen in Strange New Worlds season 1 so far, including the fantasy-inspired episode 8, "The Elysian Kingdom," and Strange New Worlds' designs differ from the uniforms and costumes she worked on for Star Trek: Discovery.

Screen Rant: Strange New Worlds’ costumes have won raves from fans for being so true to Star Trek: The Original Series. What were the challenges to balancing the look of the classic Star Trek costumes while also updating them?

Bernadette Croft: I'm so glad the costumes are resonating with fans! We want to honor the original series and pay homage to its nostalgia. The biggest challenge I would say is to make sure the costumes also resonate with new audiences who may not have seen Star Trek before.

Is it true that Rebecca Romijn (who plays Number One) and some of the other actors reportedly wanted the TOS classic miniskirts to be brought back?

Bernadette Croft: Yes! We were going to go with the classic top and pants and have a gender-neutral uniform. Rebecca thought it would be great to have uniform options and variations and she was right. It adds visual interest to have different silhouettes. Our tunics are more practical than TOS… you can run, fight and do stunts while still looking professional.

Strange New Worlds has spent a lot of time on Vulcan with Spock and T’Pring. How did you reinterpret the classic Vulcan look from TOS for the show?

Bernadette Croft: Vulcans would have to be my favorite alien. They had a formal regality to them which I find fascinating. Everything is tailored and fabrics are often a textured brocade. I love working with metallics and jewel tones for Vulcans. In the Episode "Spock Amok," we had a look at the TOS episode "Amok Time" for inspiration.

The original T’Pring, Arlene Martel was in a very fashion-forward dress for the time. Her hair was elaborate and decorative. We wanted to elevate that idea so we approached Iris Van Herpen to see if we could use one of her pieces for the show. The dress we chose is laser cut and glued onto mesh. It’s like wearable art. Our T’Pring, Gia Sandu, looked incredible in this dress. We mirrored all of this beauty with an elaborate headpiece that our atelier team made. The whole look was perfect for Spock’s dream sequence.

Ethan Peck’s Spock is nuanced, thoughtful, and compelling. His Vulcan side is very strong so when we see him in the dream sequence, we wanted a traditional Vulcan silhouette. His jacket is leather and brocade with a woven detail on the chest. This costume had to be practical  enough to fight in so we added decorative stretch panels to the back of the jacket. All of the guests at the wedding were in formal looks fit for a ceremonial wedding. I wanted to reflect the beautiful set that Jonathan Lee had created so we used copper tones, metallics, and rich textured brocades in the Background Performer’s costumes.

Outside of the Starfleet uniforms, what costumes are you most proud of designing for Strange New Worlds?

Bernadette Croft: I have some favorite episodes for sure. The Deleb aliens in episode 2 were very special for sure. Textile Artist Anna Pancheva and her team used ice dying, rust dying, and silicone-covered embroidery. Key Special Effects builder Jennifer Johnson and her team pleated those beautiful traveling hats in the style of Iris Van Herpen.

Episode 5, "Spock Amok," would also be a stand-out. Paying tribute to such an iconic episode was daunting but exciting. I also loved designing Lindy Booths’s looks for her character Alora in episode 6. The space pirates in episode 7 were insanely fun. Episode 8, the fantasy episode, was quite literally a dream come true. The actors were so committed to their characters! It was essentially a father and daughter story. Babs Olusanmokun who plays M’Benga has Nigerian heritage so we wanted to reflect that in the regality of his King’s costume. I looked at past and present Nigerian royalty for inspiration. We used traditional beads such as coral to represent his wealth and power.

A special guest star by the name of Runa was a highlight of the episode for me. It’s not every day that you get to design the Princess dress of your childhood dreams and then make a matching dress for a cute little dog.

You were also the assistant costume designer for Star Trek: Discovery, which has a very different visual style. Can you talk about the process of designing that series in its early seasons?

Bernadette Croft: Discovery’s aesthetic is very sleek and cool. The construction techniques, fabrics, and attention to detail are incredible. Gersha Phillips, the Costume Designer of Discovery is a big fan of adding texture to fabric via micro print or textile artistry. That is something that I’m carrying into Strange New Worlds. I think the key to link the two shows together is to use vibrancy and color to reflect the nostalgia of TOS and the silhouette, fabrics, and construction techniques of Discovery.

When audiences are watching the Star Trek shows you’ve worked on, do you want the costumes to be noticed or is it more important they blend seamlessly into the show’s visual palette?

Bernadette Croft: I think it’s important to honor the script and the character that’s on the written page. We have to take that seriously so the story can be told. When designing, I take into consideration Production Design, hair, makeup, prosthetics, props, and stunts. It’s a collaborative effort. Costumes are so important to the storytelling process. They inform audiences on who a character is, where they are from and the environment in which they live. The Costume team on Strange New Worlds are a creative bunch and I can’t help it if we steal the show.

Are there any costumes coming up towards the end of season 1 or in Strange New Worlds season 2 you can’t wait for the fans to see?

Bernadette Croft: Stay tuned for more iconic cannon references! Season 2 is going to be iconic!

Check out our other interviews with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds stars Gia Sandhu, Christina Chong, Rebecca Romijn, Ethan Peck, Jesse James Keitel, and Anson Mount as well as with director Sydney Freeland.

Next: Strange New Worlds' Klingon Tease Creates A Big Star Trek Mystery

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams Thursdays on Paramount+.

John Orquiola is a Features staff writer and interviewer who has been with Screen Rant for five years. He began as a director’s assistant on various independent films. As a lover of film and film theory, John wrote humorous movie reviews on his blog, Back of the Head, which got him noticed by Screen Rant. John happily became the Star Trek guy at Screen Rant and he leads Feature coverage of the various Star Trek series, but he also writes about a wide range of subjects from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Cobra Kai. His other great nerdy love is British TV series like The Crown, Downton Abbey, and Killing Eve. John can be found on Twitter @BackoftheHead if you want to see photos of the food he eats.