Echo Costume Designer Stacy Caballero Talks Following Hawkeye and Pulling From Comics

Echo was released on Disney+ and Hulu earlier this year, and the Marvel Studios show was just nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Sci-Fi Costumes. In honor of the show’s nomination, ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with costume designer Stacy Caballero. During the interview, Caballero spoke about creating looks that honor the Choctaw Nation and working on other Marvel Studios projects before taking on Echo. Echo follows Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) after she shoots Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) in the Hawkeye finale. Considering Echo is a continuation of that story, we asked Caballero about following in the footsteps of Hawkeye costume designer, Michael Crow. It’s no secret fans had mixed feelings about Fisk’s look in Hawkeye, and we wondered if Caballero considered that when designing new looks for the villain. 

“That was intentional,” Caballero said of changing Fisk’s look again in Echo. “And Michael Crow, he is a costume designer and friend who designed Hawkeye … I respect him so much, and I did pick his brain about things because I wanted to know. And I was already in that Marvel universe for so long on Wakanda Forever.” 

“As soon as you say, ‘Oh, I want to start seeing episodes from the previous series,’ they will give you all of that … So you’re continuing from one series to the next,” she explained. “Especially since Echo started basically a day later because she had just shot Kingpin and she’s on the run.”

Naturally, Hawkeye wasn’t the only resource Caballero used when creating looks for Echo. We asked the Emmy-nominated costume designer about pulling from the Echo comics.

“It was a huge resource,” she explained. “And what I always say, in a very movie-making world, it’s all about the script. The script that we’re given, I want to tell the story, I’m a storyteller, so we start with the scripts. But always, I felt like anytime I got stuck and wanted a little bit more inspo, I went back to the comic books, especially on Kingpin, but on Echo as well.”

“There were things I took from Echo. If you see a consistency of those mock necks, whether they’re sleeveless or short sleeve or long sleeve, I kept that silhouette,” Caballero continued. “So there was stuff there that I did keep and with Kingpin, it was intentional to bring back the vest. I was so excited about that and I couldn’t wait to do that.”

“I always dive back into the comic books,” she added. “That’s the OG research. And then I start the process … It felt so similar to the features that I had done with Marvel. I just felt like I was home.”

We also asked Caballero about Maya’s motorcycle jacket, which has become an important part of the character’s look and vibe.

“All of that was very thoughtful and designed,” she shared. “It’s also coming from Hawkeye. I really studied what Michael had done in Hawkeye and just what they put on the screen. And I knew she had her black motorcycle jacket and then later she had the stripes, the Kingpin stripes of the tracksuit guys, and then she adds her Echo. There’s an evolution of that black jacket.”

“At the beginning of Echo, we have to think, she doesn’t have anything with her, because she’s on the run. So she has to pick up a new jacket along the way, and she’s being resourceful and she’s thrifting. She does have cash because she’s very smart, so the thought is, she stopped at a motorcycle store, she bought it, but she did get it on her way out.”

“And then she puts her Echo stamp on it because that’s a very powerful symbol throughout. And it was intentional to use the copper and put the Echo sun in copper. And everything about it, you see in the back, the Choctaw diamonds are there. And then also, it protects her.”

“It’s a really well-built jacket,” Caballero explained. “I had worked with Boda Skins to design and manufacture it, and there were elements we ended up losing. We had something on the side arm that we ended up losing completely. It was cleaner andbetter for the evolution of her character’s look through the series because, in the end of the series, her ceremonial vest and fight costume had so many beads, embroidery, and leather embossing work. Making the beginning looks a bit simpler helps the viewer see the evolution clearer as she prepares for fight mode.”

Echo is now available to stream on Disney+.