Rhiannon Haseltine Design

I'm a costume designer and maker from Edinburgh, UK.

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BEOWULF - CHARACTER LINE UP (2016)

Costumes designed during my final year of university, re-imagining the 2007 Beowulf film as taking place in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic Middle Eastern setting. World-building was a key focus, exploring how modern clothing might be combined with found items and bones to create a compelling aesthetic and indicate the social hierarchy and exaggerated gender roles of the story’s warrior-led society.

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BEOWULF - BEOWULF AND GRENDEL (2016)

Beowulf is introduced as a nomadic warrior, come to save Hrothgar’s people from Grendel. While Hrothgar’s court members accessorise with bones to emphasise status and past victories, Beowulf and his men dress more practically for travel, only adding bone elements once settled and Beowulf is king. I drew from deep sea creatures for Grendel’s design, creating a cold, wet, underworld feel against the hot, dry desert setting. His botched castration also marks him as unsettling to the hyper-masculine warrior culture of the story, contrasting Beowulf as its heroic ideal. Both wear little or no armour to indicate their immense physical strength.

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BEOWULF - KING HROTHGAR & QUEEN WEALTHEOW (2016)

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BEOWULF - GRENDEL’S MOTHER (2016)

In the film script, Grendel’s Mother takes two forms: a hallucinatory, beautiful golden form used to deceive Hrothgar and Beowulf, and her monstrous ‘true’ self. Highlighting the weakness underlying the machismo of the male warrior characters, I drew upon Orientalist paintings to create an exaggerated beauty designed to target the male gaze. I then explored the archetype of the archaic or death mother for Grendel’s Mother’s true form; depicting the existential fear of engulfment and loss of self laying in wait behind a cultivated, irresistible mask.

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BEOWULF - SKULL MASK (2016)

A resin skull-shaped mask made to accompany my Beowulf design project for my final year of university. The mask was moulded from a clay sculpture based on a plaster cast of the model’s face and painted to resemble bone. Individual acrylic dentures were embedded in the sculpture before moulding, resulting in a realistic look to the teeth and greater space between the mask and the model’s mouth for more comfort while wearing.

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THE NUTCRACKER - CLARA (2025)

I have recently revisited my first year Nutcracker project, using my improved design skillset to deliver a stronger concept throughout the ensemble. Set during World War II, Clara has been evacuated from London to stay with Drosselmeyer; her khaki wool overcoat covers a brightly coloured dress, suggesting her penchant for fantasy despite the bleak atmosphere of wartime England.

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THE NUTCRACKER - MOUSE SOLDIER (2025)

The villainous Mouse Soldier and Rat King feature contemporary food packaging in their costumes, as though scavenged; imagining fears a child may have had during WWII, I referenced the threat of food scarcity during rationing by envisioning the rodents stealing and contaminating food in the pantry. This also avoided using real world military uniforms, which would feel tonally mismatched in a lighthearted ballet.

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THE NUTCRACKER - THE RAT KING (2016)

Full costume constructed during my final year of university, following a design from one of my first year projects, Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Nutcracker’ re-imagined in England during the Second World War. Features a cane mask with LED lights for eyes, a hand-stencilled cloak to mimic a vintage flour sack, and a painted tail with polystyrene bean filling for movement.

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THE NUTCRACKER - SUGAR PLUM FAIRY (2025)

Referencing the use of cinema as a morale booster during WWII, the Sugar Plum Fairy reflects the glamour of Hollywood in the late 1930s; a world which would seem like a dream to Clara at the time. Her costume also draws upon contemporary chocolate wrappers and advertisements, contrasting the nightmare of the Mice by suggesting an abundance of food and other indulgent luxuries.

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THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME - CHARACTER LINE UP (2016)

Costumes designed during my final year of university following the Disney Broadway script. I aimed to create the look of an illuminated manuscript brought to life through detailed research into 15th century clothing and art. Key challenges included evoking the essence of the animated film without directly replicating character designs and striving for cultural sensitivity in the depiction of the Romani characters.

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THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME - QUASIMODO & FROLLO (2016)

The juxtaposition between the costumes of Quasimodo and Frollo reveals Frollo’s cruelty and hypocrisy. He declares himself to be self-righteous and morally pure while wearing a voluminous houppelande in embroidered velvet, in contrast to his ward’s shabby clothing. The black fabric suggests false modesty, requiring an expensive dye historically. My initial designs for Quasimodo featured a plain tunic; adding patches of richly coloured fabrics created visual interest, emphasised Frollo’s neglect, and improved cohesion with the other characters.

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THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME - ESMERALDA & QUASIMODO’S MOTHER (2016)

Esmeralda being perceived as both distinctive and attractive during her Festival Dance performance is a key plot catalyst. I referenced an early-1500s tapestry depicting Romani dancers for a research-informed, character-driven design. While her dress is more revealing than those of other characters, I was keen not to fall into sexualised stereotypes by grounding her costume details in research and narrative context, and by balancing it with more covered, practical costumes for her ‘day’ dress and those worn by the other Romani women.

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THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME - GARGOYLES (2016)

The gargoyles represent Quasimodo’s ego, superego, and id, explored in their designs through silhouette and choice of animal features. The script describes the gargoyle costumes as wearable sculptures that the actors can step out of to reveal their human selves for speaking scenes. I instead merged the human and gargoyle, blurring the line of fantasy and reality to emphasise the isolation Quasimodo suffered.

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THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME - CLOPIN (2016)

Costume design for the character Clopin, the narrator of the play, drawing upon depictions of Medieval jesters due to their role in Medieval Europe as storytellers and entertainers.

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THE LITTLE MERMAID - CHARACTER COLLAGES (2026)

Initial character studies for the Sea Witch, the Mermaid, and the Princess from Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Little Mermaid’, as research for a new costume design project. A loose, intuitive style has been used to explore character themes and archetypal imagery, with a particular focus on the Madonna–whore complex and voicelessness as female suffering.

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THE LITTLE MERMAID - RESEARCH & SKETCHES (2026)

An 1890s setting was chosen for The Little Mermaid, with the wealthy Princess exemplifying the decade’s fashionable silhouette. Structured fabrics and restrictive details reflect her acquiescence to the constraints of her prescribed life path. The Mermaid has been dressed in older cast-offs, with cumbersome bustled skirts visualising her bodily discomfort at the unfamiliar burden of gravity and the pain of her magic-given feet. The ancient Sea Witch has a 17th-century silhouette, overgrown with barnacles; centuries underwater have eroded her humanity.

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'Handmaids in London' Event (2017)

6 Handmaid's Tale costumes made for a Jack Arts/Vintage Books promotional event in London.

Photos courtesy of Jack Arts/Vintage Books