Arcane Season 2 Costumes, Armor, and Props
In late summer of 2024, a call came in for an absolute dream project: create the costumes, armor, and most iconic props from the upcoming Netflix sequel season to the League of Legends streaming series Arcane. These items would be installed the red carpet premiere at the Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, various streaming events where the creators of Arcane would discuss episode creation, and an absolutely massive finale party in Los Angeles for the series’ final episode. We were tasked with making Ambessa’s armor, Caitlyn’s uniform, Vi’s cage fighter outfit, Ekko’s hoverboard, and a refresh of our Fishbones T-Shirt cannon. We had five weeks!
Ambessa’s gold armor was designed in tandem with the scenic team at Matchless Build who created the set pieces for each event. We worked closely with this other studio to make sure all of our fabricated pieces would fit into their plinths and display alcoves to ensure a smooth install. Each armor component features a hidden set of anchor points bonded to the sculpt to give the amror a floating appearance when on display. The party piece for Ambessa’s armor are her two weapons called “The Drakehounds”. An armored cuff and massive blade float opposite one another, held in suspension with welded chain segments to simulate the weapons in use.
Caitlyn and Vi’s outfits are derived from their in-game League of Legends skins, themed to Arcane and launched in tandem with the airing of Season 2. For the textile work on these outfits, we partnered with Atlanta couture studio Jones Specialty Soft Goods. With these characters exaggerated videogame proportions, all clothing items and accessories were bespoke creations, even down to the mannequins on which the costumes are displayed! Foam body forms were machined for fabric draping, and each piece was created to match the vibrant colors and wild proportions seen in-game. With these items touring multiple events, care was taken in their design to ensure quick and easy assembly. For instance: sleeves are attached to their respective arms instead of the base jacket, meaning there’s no need to wrestle with a rigid mannequin arm and a cloth sleeve.
Ekko’s hoverboard was painted with a mind to match the existing Fishbones replica we’d completed in 2022. We had even saved out paint masks from that project and broke them out of storage to make sure our paint effects mirrored our earlier efforts as closely as possible! The board is nearly 5′ long and features over 200 LEDs for its green illumination. We also fabricated custom “anomaly” themed display bases to match the Arcane aesthetic present in the series and scenic installs.
These projects were a massive undertaking, and we couldn’t be more proud of the results!
