A More Sustainable Costume Department: Practical Choices for Production
A jacket can move from a hire rail to a fitting room, through six weeks of continuity and back into stock for its next production.
This is sustainability at its most practical: keeping useful items in circulation and reducing unnecessary purchases.
Sustainability in costume does not start with replacing every product in the workroom with a new “eco” version. It starts with deliberate decisions about what enters the department, how long it stays in service and where it goes after wrap.
Each choice still needs to serve character, fit, continuity, budget and schedule. A more sustainable costume department is built through systems suited to real production work, not through perfection.
Start with what already exists
Before raising a purchase order, look through production stock, hire catalogues, costume houses, second-hand sources and pieces suitable for alteration.
A clear character breakdown, accurate cast measurements and early conversations between design, production and the costume team reduce speculative buying and duplicate pulls. Better information at the beginning usually means fewer unsuitable items arriving in the workroom later.
Existing garments rarely arrive as a complete answer. A shirt needs a different trouser, a jacket needs ageing or a dress needs reshaping for the actor. Allow time during prep for fittings, repairs, dyeing and alterations. Reuse works best when the schedule gives the department room to do skilled work.
ScreenSkills identifies late casting, last-minute schedule changes and pressure for next-day delivery as barriers to more responsible sourcing. Earlier decisions create more options for local hire, second-hand buying, specialist suppliers and consolidated deliveries.
Hire items with a short production life
Some wardrobe has a clear role and a short life within one production.
An occupational uniform might appear in a single scene. A set of matching shirts might be needed for one day of background. A pregnancy prosthetic might only be required for part of a shooting block.
Buying every piece leaves production with storage, resale or disposal work at wrap. Hiring keeps purpose-built stock moving between productions and gives costume departments access to maintained, production-ready pieces without taking long-term ownership.
Hire also supports continuity, background casting and doubles when sizing and quantities are confirmed early. Planned collections, grouped fittings and organised returns make the process more efficient from prep through to wrap.
COSPRO offers enquiry-only costume and equipment hire for film, television and photographic productions. The collection includes uniforms, occupational wardrobe, contemporary suiting, pregnancy prosthetics and production equipment. Detailed measurements and available quantities appear in the hire catalogue, with further stock available beyond the current catalogue.
Buy with the next use in mind
Not every brief works from existing stock. When buying or making is needed, think beyond the first fitting.
Look for durable construction, workable seam allowances, removable logos and trims, fabrics suited to the required care routine and pieces flexible enough for later alterations. A well-chosen base garment might return as another character, move into background stock or support a future production.
Highly specific purchases still belong in costume when the story demands them. Recording the intended use and planned destination gives each item a clearer path after filming.
For made garments, construction choices also help preserve future value. Generous seam allowances, replaceable fastenings and removable embellishments give future teams more room to alter or repurpose a piece.
The Sustainable Screens Australia costume and wardrobe checklist asks designers to consider garments designed for disassembly, reuse or a second life in another form. This approach does not compromise design. It builds future options into a garment where appropriate.
Treat repairs as part of the workflow
A loose hem, missing button or split seam is a small job at the end of the day and a lost costume by next week if ignored.
Set up one visible repair area and log faults against the relevant character or costume number. Keep common replacement fastenings, thread colours and repair materials together. Small repairs become easier to complete before a garment returns to the rail.
Laundering deserves the same attention. Follow fibre, finish and hygiene requirements, spot-clean between wears where suitable, run full loads, select lower temperatures when care instructions permit and air dry where time and fabric allow.
Cast comfort, hygiene, allergies, continuity and manufacturer instructions always take priority. The aim is thoughtful care, not less care.
Maintenance is less visible than sourcing, yet it plays a major role in keeping costume stock in working condition.
Reduce waste around the wardrobe
The clothing is only one part of the waste moving through a costume department.
Courier satchels, poly bags, disposable hangers, garment covers, shoe boxes, tissue, labels and printed paperwork quickly collect during prep. A simple reuse system prevents useful packaging from entering the bin too early.
Set aside clean packaging as deliveries arrive. Create labelled return points for hangers, garment bags, shoe boxes and storage tubs. Reuse sturdy fitting bags and garment dividers until worn. Keep one consistent labelling system so containers stay useful throughout prep, shooting and wrap.
Ordering practices also matter. Combine orders and pickups where the schedule permits, brief buyers clearly and avoid several separate trips to the same source. More preparation time supports grouped deliveries and reduces the pressure behind last-minute purchasing.
Make the system work on set
A system only lasts if it still works at 5 am in the rain, with a unit move ahead and a missing cast member arriving in ten minutes.
Pack repair tools in the same order each day. Label laundry bags clearly. Give reusable garment covers, hangers and transport bags a fixed location. Set up a separate rail for hire returns and keep supplier paperwork with the relevant stock.
Sustainability loses momentum when it adds complicated steps to an overloaded team. The most useful changes reduce decisions, protect stock and make the department easier to run under pressure.
Plan the wrap during prep
Wrap is not the right time to decide what happens to several hundred costume items.
Add a costume wrap plan to the budget and schedule during prep. Separate stock into hire returns, production archive, future stock, resale, donation, textile recycling and waste. Allocate time for cleaning, repairs, inventory checks and transport.
Check hired pieces against the original paperwork, report damage promptly, pack items by supplier and return everything within the agreed period. For production-owned pieces, store useful information with the garment, including measurements, alterations, character details and cleaning notes. Good records make future reuse faster.
Use extra care with occupational uniforms. Remove or control official-looking badges, identification and restricted components before resale or donation, following supplier and production requirements.
A planned wrap protects the budget and the future value of the wardrobe. It also prevents rushed disposal from becoming the default option.
Set one useful goal
Sustainable Screens Australia recommends involving the full department and setting a shared goal for the production.
Choose something specific and measurable. Record a wrap destination for every newly purchased item. Keep all reusable hangers in circulation. Consolidate weekly pickups. Repair damaged stock before storage. Complete the hire return inventory before the final costume truck leaves.
Review the result at wrap and carry the useful parts into the next job. Small systems become standard practice through repetition.
A more sustainable costume department grows from practical choices made across the full production: source existing stock first, hire for short-term needs, buy with future use in mind, repair early, reduce surrounding waste and plan the wrap before shooting begins.
Hire before you buy
COSPRO’s Melbourne-based hire collection includes police, firefighter, paramedic, medical, corrections, security, school, hospitality and religious wardrobe, alongside contemporary suiting, pregnancy prosthetics and production equipment.
For cast fittings, hero characters, background, doubles or continuity, view the COSPRO hire range or email hello@cospro.com.au.
Not everything available appears in the catalogue. All hire is arranged by enquiry and quoted per project.
Sustainable costume practice starts with making better use of what already exists.