One of the challenges of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is trying to create distinctive costumes for all the new characters, especially the 13 dwarves that all need distinctive looks so audiences can easily tell them apart. Hero Complex spoke with The Hobbits costume designer Ann Maskrey about the challenge the trilogy presents. Below are a few of the questions, the full Q&A is here.

HC: Each dwarf has such an individual look. What was it like to develop those costumes?
AM: It was quite a challenge really, simply because there are 13 of them, and Peter Jackson wanted them to have such a distinct, separate look from each other. He really was very keen on them having a different silhouette even before we started talking about the different colors they would all have. And then beyond that, he wanted distinct characteristics, and also distinct hierarchy, because some of the dwarves are more noble than others. So I had to emphasize all of that in just the choice of fabrics and the level of decoration, and by the time you get to dwarf No. 7 of 13, you’re thinking, “How are we going to make the next one look different?” It’s difficult, but great fun, actually too. I did learn an awful lot as I went along. Even though I’ve done a lot of other movies in the past, I’ve not really done anything quite like that with so many key principals really up front the whole time, and had to design it to the level of detail that we’ve done.

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Q&A with The Hobbit Costume Designer. There are any Q&A with The Hobbit Costume Designer in here.