Working in film and television since the late 90s, and with a number of BAFTA nominations to her name, British Costume Designer Lucinda Wright approached her work on The Witcher - a fantasy television series starring Henry Cavill - with pure professionalism and little ego.
Taking over from Tim Aslam, who worked on the first season of the Netflix hit, Wright says she had no desire to start from scratch, preferring to commit to a seamless transition when approaching both the second.
"I just carried on," she smiles, "I didn't even think about it. From when I started on season two, I was, you know, careful at first, wanting to keep characters going, but it just kind of rolled into it."
Although she was happy to follow the blueprint of the first series, Wright worked closely with the cast and crew to represent the characters' progression within the plot through their clothing.
"The costume design is dictated by what happens in the storylines," she explains, "you're so involved with that you feel like you do know the characters so you just kind of roll them along and elaborate on them."
"You are there to tell a story and I don't think you should ever forget that," she adds. "You can't just waft off into a different world; you are guided by the script. Then you can talk to the actors about their character and what they think. On The Witcher, they talk to the actors a lot about how they want to do it.
"I do a portfolio and I'll say what we think we can work towards but it's a process of working with them and doing fittings, so that when you get the end result everyone knows what it is."
In the end, the work paid off, resulting in a Primetime Emmy nomination for 'Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes'.
Working on the third season - which will drop on Netflix Ireland on June 29th - Wright said she enjoyed bringing more contemporary pieces into play while staying true to the characters.
"I do like to get contemporary looks in because I feel there should be costumes that people can relate to as a viewer. I don't watch the games - I never have done - because I think you would be split if you started to look at what the game was.
"I work with the actors and work with Henry [Cavill] to find out what they expect and what they would like. That's what you should do as a Costume Designer, really."
As a fan of The Witcher game and book series that the TV show is based on, Cavill has been vocal about his enthusiasm for playing the leading character of Geralt, and Wright says that he was eager to get the costumes right - both in how they looked and how they functioned.
"When I started on season two, he sat down and spoke about the armour in season one, and between us, we worked really closely on how it should be like a second skin, and how it should silhouette his fantastic physique," she smiles.
"It should be something that he would fight in and not have to worry about. Very practical. In season three he is moving on to a different kind of part of his character. He's softer in a way but still has armour like the gauntlets and the leather," she explains. "He still fights but it's a different approach."
When it comes to tracking a character's journey, Wright says that developing colour palettes is essential to costume design, particularly for the show's leading ladies, Yennefer (played by Anya Chalotra) and Ciri (played by Freya Allan).
"The first thing that struck me when I started watching The Witcher was Ciri's green eyes and Yennefer's violet eyes," says Wright. "For Ciri, I will always try to give her some colour so that, on camera, her eyes will always really pop."
"I call it Ciri blue," she adds. "It's to remind us that she comes from [the kingdom of] Cintra. She's the only person who wears blue, really, throughout the whole thing. I keep that colour for her to show her background. She's also still a princess so you always want to have a bit of glitter, but she is also a fighter so she has trousers and boots."
Reflecting on the pieces she's most proud of from this season, but without giving anything away, Wright says that episode five is one to watch.
"I'm very lucky to be able to work on something like this, it's just a dream as a costume designer."
