The Who What Wear Podcast: Costuming The Last of Us: Ann Foley on Apocalyptic Realism and Character-Driven Design

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Who What Wear

Business, Careers, Society & Culture, Arts, Fashion & Beauty, Personal Journals

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 18 June 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ann Foley is the costume designer behind the grounded and detailed wardrobes of the hit show The Last of Us. In this episode, Foley (whose extensive career also includes work on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and She Hulk) sits down with Who What Wear Senior Fashion and Social Media Editor Tara Gonzalez to discuss the costume design process for The Last of Us season 2. Foley shares the journey of developing character-driven styles, the inspiration behind the apocalyptic fashion and how it reflected the different environments, and the subtle styling changes that marked character growth after a five-year time jump. She reveals the challenges of costuming an apocalyptic world, why The Last of Us is technically a period piece, the significance of specific items like Joel's jacket and Ellie's Converse, and the collaborative process with actors and showrunners that brought the characters to life.

Transcript

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1:02.9	Yeah, eBay.
1:07.5	The place for new, pre-loved, vintage and rare fashion.
1:11.5	eBay, things people love. Welcome to the Who What Wear Podcast, your direct line to the designers, stylists, beauty experts, editors, and tastemakers who are shaping the ever-evolving world of fashion.
1:35.9	I'm Who-Watt Weir's founder and chief content officer Hillary Kerr, and today I'm passing the mic to senior fashion and social media editor Tara Gonzalez as
1:45.8	she sits down with Anne Foley, the costume designer of The Last of Us, season two.
1:51.6	Anne has a long resume of work in the superhero genre.
1:55.1	And if you've seen The Last of Us, you know that this is a bit of a departure from some of
2:00.5	her past projects, like Marvel's
2:02.7	Agents of Shield and She-Hulk on Disney Plus. Fashion may not be the priority for characters
2:08.5	who are trying to survive attacks from infected zombies, fair, but Anne masterfully uses specific
2:15.2	pieces of clothing to reveal who these characters are,
2:18.6	from Ellie's Black Converse to Joel's Flint and Tinder jacket.
2:23.2	In today's episode, Anne shares how she came on board the show's second season,
	...

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