FBFX

23/01/2025

Huge congratulations to Janty Yates and David Crossman on their Oscar nomination for Gladiator II!

We're very proud to have played a part bringing some of these costumes to the screen.

To see Janty Yates in conversation with Adam Savage at FBFX about the costume design for Gladiator and Gladiator II, head to the link in the comments. There's also a chat with Adam and FBFX co-founder Grant Pearmain about the Praetorian armour FBFX built for each film!

10/01/2025

Today we're saying TTFN to FBFX model maker Katie as she heads off on a new adventure. The workshop won't be the same without you, Katie!

08/01/2025

New year, new unit! Exciting times ahead in 2025 with the expansion of FBFX's brilliant soft costume team.

31/12/2024

As we count down to the start of 2025, huge thanks to everyone involved in a spectacular 2024.

Finally getting to see Deadpool & Wolverine on the big screen (and all the love for the yellow suit!), more fun filming with Adam Savage and the brilliant Tested crew, revisiting the Praetorians with Gladiator II, some big anniversaries for FBFX projects past (how is it 10 years since Guardians of the Galaxy?) and much more, it's been a year to remember.

We can't wait to show you what we've been working on behind the scenes this year... watch this space!

#2024 #2025

17/12/2024

Congratulations to Janty Yates and David Crossman for their Costume Designers Guild Awards nomination for Gladiator II, and to Jacqueline West for Dune: Part Two! 👏

13/12/2024

Armour fit for an emperor...

FBFX made armour elements for three of Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus costumes in Gladiator: black and silver, brown leather with gold, and white for the final fight.

We really liked working with Joaquin. He was the actor the FBFX team spent most time with, with fittings in his trailer at Shepperton Studios then in Malta for the colosseum scenes and as he prepared for his battle with Russell Crowe - intense fight training that left him with plasters on his fingers.

Maximus and Commodus’ showdown also featured 45 of the Praetorian guards whose armour was made at FBFX. Maximus’s armour was made by the talented Ivo Coveney.

“The white armour was a big deal,” remembers FBFX’s Grant Pearmain. “There were three or four days spent painting it and repainting it, showing it to Ridley (Scott) at the door of his trailer, then getting grabbed by production designer Arthur Max who’d have his ideas as well, and then back to repaint.”

Commodus’s armour is struck by Maximus, requiring a reworked version to show the impact of the blow.

“You’ve only got a few versions of the costume so it’s important everyone agrees where the gash will be. Everyone agrees, you cut it, paint it... then the scene is shot and of course somebody says, ‘That’s not where he would have hit him.’ At that point though, there’s not a great deal you can do about it!”

Costume design by Janty Yates, assistant costume designer Sammy Sheldon.

09/12/2024

Congratulations to Deadpool & Wolverine and Gladiator II on their Golden Globe nominations!

03/12/2024

It's 10 years today since the release of Ridley Scott's biblical epic, Exodus: Gods and Kings. Along with this armour for Christian Bale's Moses, FBFX manufactured 140 costumes with around 1,000 scales each - that's a lot of scales!

A decade ago, we created strips of scales spraying polyurethane, the metallic sheen created with a paint powder in the moulds. The strips were then glued on to the costume.

The production of this armour was a precursor to the scale mail skirts we made for the Praetorians in Gladiator II, although this time around, scales were individually cast in a soft rubber with a metal finish cast into the material.

Costume design by Janty Yates.

29/11/2024

Adam Savage talks Gladiator costume design with Janty Yates!

Any discussion about the costumes for Gladiator and Gladiator II absolutely has to involve Janty Yates, who won the Best Costume Design Academy Award for the original film and co-designed on the second with David Crossman.

So we were thrilled she was able to come in to FBFX and share her insights with Adam Savage for Tested's second film about the costumes of Gladiator.

https://youtu.be/eZrw0T9cLKA

With Gladiator II released in theaters, Adam Savage recently sat down with Gladiator’s Academy Award-winning costume designer Janty Yates to look back at her...

25/11/2024

New Praetorian/old Praetorian... Adam Savage and the Tested team returned to FBFX for an in-depth look at some of the armour FBFX built for Gladiator 25 years ago, alongside the work from Gladiator II.

Which is your favourite?

Almost 25 years after making armor for the first Gladiator film, the specialty costume makers at FBFX returned to make the updated Praetorian guard armor for...

21/11/2024

With Gladiator II in cinemas - featuring some costumes by FBFX! - we've been looking back at the work we did on the original Gladiator movie.

The Tigris of Gaul character was an undefeated gladiator brought in by Emperor Commodus to fight Maximus before the crowds in the Colosseum.

The costume for actor Sven-Ole Thorsen was one of the many FBFX fabricated for the film, with the clay sculpt for the helmet (pictured) by concept artist Paul Catling, with the face sculpt by Mark Dodwell. Original illustrations by Sylvain Despretz.

Oscar-winning costume design for Gladiator was by Janty Yates.

We'll be sharing more memories of Gladiator over the coming days, and keep an eye out on Monday for a rather special video...

13/11/2024

Deadpool & Wolverine has arrived on Disney+! Hugh Jackman finally appearing on screen in Wolverine’s yellow and blue suit was a fan highlight of this summer’s undisputed blockbuster.

With vis dev by Andy Park and Ryan Meinerding, and costume design by Mayes C. Rubeo and Graham Churchyard, the yellow suit was realised here at FBFX.

Earlier this year, we were able to share an in-depth look at the costume with Tested and Adam Savage and talk him through how this iconic suit was made.

Adam visits FBFX, the specialty costume makers that were responsible for realizing Wolverine's iconic yellow superhero suit on the big screen in this past su...

31/10/2024

Happy Halloween, from our coven to yours!

29/10/2024

Want to work with us? FBFX is hiring costume makers and cutters of all levels to join our soft costume team.

We’re looking for a varied mix of skills to complement our existing team, with operational knowledge of special FX costume, technical stretch construction and industrial sewing machines preferred but not required. We can offer training in specialist areas.

There are contract and daily positions available. Experience on production is not necessary.

Applicants must be able to commute to Feltham, West London.

To apply: https://fbfx.bamboohr.com/careers/27

16/10/2024

The latest One Day Build from Adam Savage and Tested is Adam in carbonite - created using an FBFX photogrammetry scan and body parts 3D printed/CNC milled in our workshop!

Adam completes a dream build: turning himself into a life-size frozen-in-carbonite statue to hang in his workshop! Utilizing the frame of a previous Han in C...

15/10/2024

It was an absolute pleasure to welcome Adam Savage and Tested back to FBFX for a fantastic day of filming!

From in-depth looks at costumes old and new, skills shares, new tech and even a special guest, there'll be plenty of videos coming out on the Tested YouTube channel over the coming months.

Thanks so much to Adam, Norm and Josh for the visit, and to our brilliant team.

30/09/2024

We waited a long time for this team up....

Adam Savage and Tested caught up with FBFX's Bex Elley and Ed Woodward to find out how Wolverine's yellow suit was finally brought to the big screen for this year's box office-busting hit, Deadpool & Wolverine.

Costume design by Graham Churchyard and Mayes C. Rubeo.

Deadpool & Wolverine is available to buy on digital from October 1.

Adam visits FBFX, the specialty costume makers that were responsible for realizing Wolverine's iconic yellow superhero suit on the big screen in this past su...