Dressing the Part: Costume Designer Sarah Runnalls on Yaga and the Visual Language of Character
Inside the creative process behind Yaga in anticipation of its TIFF 2026 premiere
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Photo Credit: Sarah Runnalls
Before Sarah Runnalls was dressing characters for the screen, she was raiding her parents’ linen closet. As a teenager, no bedsheet was safe. Runnalls would take whatever fabric she could get her hands on and turn it into something she could wear, eventually making pieces for friends and selling her creations to local boutiques. She already understood fashion as a form of storytelling: each morning offered another opportunity to decide how you wanted to present yourself to the world.
That instinct would eventually take her from fashion school to Vancouver Fashion Week, where her Sarah Runnalls Collection earned her an Emerging Designer Award. Her work with iconic Canadian drag queen Jimbo introduced another dimension to her designs, beginning with costumes for local theatre before their creative paths led into film and television.
It was there that clothing took on a different responsibility. A beautiful garment became representative of a character’s history and storyline, revealing a world of information before a line of dialogue is uttered. Runnalls became fascinated by the precision of that process and the way a character could evolve visually from scene to scene.
Her latest project, Yaga, gave her particularly rich material to explore. Created by Kat Sandler, the series reimagines a folklore figure whose image has been shaped by centuries of storytelling. Rather than reaching for the familiar visual shorthand of the witch, Runnalls helped create modern women whose power and confidence are embedded in how they present themselves. The female gaze became an important creative guide, resulting in a visual identity that feels contemporary while leaving room for some cleverly placed cinematic references.
With Yaga premiering at TIFF 2026, we spoke with Runnalls about the creative process behind bringing its characters to life and the unexpected path that brought her from making one-of-a-kind fashion to designing entire identities for the screen.
1. As a fellow fashion girlie, we have to start with dress-up. You’ve shared that you were already making clothes as a teenager—even liberating a few bedsheets and curtains from your parents in the name of fashion. What did creativity and personal style look like for you before you ever imagined either could become a career?
I look back on that time so fondly. No bedsheet was safe in my parents house. As far back as I can remember I have always been interested in fashion as a way to show the world who you are. Every day you can wake up and tell a different story based on your mood and how you want to present yourself.
Luckily I took to the sewing machine immediately and sort of innately understood garment construction before having any formal training. If I could sew something one dimensional into a shape that could cover the body, then it was fashion and I would wear it.
I started making things for my friends at school and then selling one-of-a-kind pieces to local fashion boutiques. The reception to the clothes I was making, regardless of the improper tailoring or construction, made me realize that I could make it into a career. I just didn't know exactly how it would all work out.
2. Growing up, was there a person who became your fashion equivalent of a walking, talking “a-ha” moment—someone whose style or work stopped you in your tracks, showing you how impactful it could truly be? As your own design eye has evolved, who has remained an aesthetic North Star for you?
As a bonafide millennial, I was obsessed with the Olsen twins and the maximalist fashion of the early 2000's. I would search paparazzi pics of them and the other IT girls of the time, buy every fashion magazine, and try to sew or upcycle thrifted clothes into dupes of their street style looks.
As I have grown, I have a much more paired down, minimal aesthetic. I still love the way the Olsens dress and The Row is one of my favorite brands.
BTS Sarah Runnalls Collections Vancouver Fashion Week
Photo Credit: Sarah Runnalls
3. By 2018, Sarah Runnalls Collection had reached the runway at Vancouver Fashion Week, where you were recognized with an Emerging Designer Award. Looking back, was there one pivotal decision or opportunity that helped turn your passion into a profession—and that aspiring designers could learn from today?
I wouldn't say there was one pivotal moment. It was many years of just sticking with it because I loved it no matter what hurdles came up.
Going to Fashion Design school was a decision I am glad I made. I did a one year program and learned how to build and pattern make professionally, and also got valuable insight into the industry.
My advice would be to find a way to keep doing what you love. If you are truly passionate about it, it will all fall into place eventually.
BTS with Jimbo + Sarah
Photo Credit: Sarah Runnalls
4. You've designed for Jimbo, one of drag’s most gloriously maximalist characters, on RuPaul’s Drag Race. When the margin for error is zero (in the literal spotlight), what design details do you incorporate to ensure a garment will performance for a stage show? Any tips or tricks the rest of us can use when shopping for pieces built for life in motion?
If you can afford it, custom is always the way to go for life in motion. If not then body tape is your best friend.
There is so much that goes into creating Drag costumes. The inside of the garment takes hours and hours to build. Corsets, boning, strapping, hidden hooks and zippers all need to be thought out so that the outside of the garment looks effortless. Even with all that there's still been a nip-slip here and there!
Photo Credit: @sarahrunnallscollection
5. Somewhere along the way, your work expanded from independent fashion collections into prestigious costume departments and, ultimately, Costume Designer credits of your own. What drew you toward film, and what excited you about applying your design skills to the art of building characters?
Jimbo was actually the person who got me into film. We started making costumes together for local theatre (Rocky Horror Picture Show, Wizard of Oz ect.) and eventually transitioned into film and TV through meeting local people in the industry.
When I create a garment it starts from an idea or an inspiration and evolves into something beautiful but doesn't necessarily have personality attached to it.
Creating a charaterter through costume design is a whole different entity. It gives the clothes life and tells a whole story about who that person is. Through colour, texture and silhouette you can watch a character evolve through the screen.
Each scene is meticulously thought out to portray what the character is feeling or going through and I love that. I also love the collaboration with the cast and crew on a film set. There's something magical about all being in it together. Kind of like we're all at summer camp. Sometimes a really stressful summer camp that makes you want to cry and throw up, but camp nonetheless!
6. To be a fly on the wall of your Pinterest boards! When a new project lands in your hands, what happens first? Can you walk us through how you begin building its visual language, from the earliest references and conversations to the point where you can actually see the characters taking shape.
It all starts when the script lands in my hands. Reading and re-reading it sometimes several times and just letting each character come to life in my imagination. I often use a script reading app so I can go for a walk and listen to it while letting ideas come into my mind. That often helps the ideas flow better for me rather than sitting still and reading.
Next step is creating a mood board for each character. Pulling images from pinterest or archival references from other films. Sketching, getting fabric swatches and samples. Some designers like to give each character their own colour or palette to keep them seperate from each other. I tend to go more with texture and silhouette differentiation.
Then I present the mood board booklet to the Producers and Directors and they give me their feedback. If our visions are far apart I will edit and come back with a revised board and most often we will meet somewhere in the middle.
Then the sourcing starts. Buying, renting, building, even pulling from my own closet sometimes to get the desired look for the character. The final step is actor fittings. sometimes trying on hundreds of pieces just to find a few that are perfect.
7. And then there’s Yaga. Yaga offers a new interpretation of a folklore figure people have imagined for centuries. With so much history already attached to Baba Yaga, how did you approach creating a costume language that honoured those roots while giving this telling a modern visual identity of its own?
Yaga is by far a major highlight of my career. I loved the story the second I started reading the script. Yaga is creator Kat Sandler's baby, so it was important for me to make sure her beloved characters were portrayed in the way she envisioned them.
The most important thing for us, especially when it came to creating the women, was to dress them for the female gaze. The series is so strongly rooted in feminism. We wanted these women to be powerful and confident in the way they dressed.
The second most important thing was to keep them modern. The last thing we wanted was for them to look like stereotypical "witches". We wanted them to look elevated yet still have the element of living normal modern lives.
The series has many easter eggs and nods to other iconic cinematic moments. But you'll have to wait and see if you can spot them.
Photo Credit: Sarah Runnalls
8. We have to ask about the gown. You recently described the custom white gown you created for Carrie-Anne Moss as a “labour of love,” and paired with the mask, it’s an extraordinary image. Take us inside the making of that look: what did you want it to communicate about her character, and how did you translate that idea into the silhouette, fabrication and final details we see on screen?
I can't remember the exact wording of the description in the scene but 'ethereal' is the word that sums it up best. Without spoiling anything in the episode I can say that it is supposed to communicate a dream-like state. We wanted her to look otherworldly. As if there's no beginning or end to what she embodies.
The silhouette and fabric choice translates that in the way she appears to float. Are there legs under that yardage of silk or does she just glide? Who knows!
The making of it was basically starting with the base, and then many trial and error iterations of draping the skirt so that it appeared to sort of melt off the bodice and into the earth.
9. We imagine costume designers spend their careers considering what clothing tells us about a person, which feels especially relevant to anyone aspiring to dress more authentically. If each of us is, essentially, costuming the character of “ourselves” every morning, what sage advice would you give us as our own costume designers?
That's a tough one because personal style is just that- personal. Everyone is costume designing themselves every day whether they are aware of it or not.
Steve Jobs, for instance, told a story by wearing the same outfit every single day for 20 years. In not wanting to have a style or have to think about what to wear, he ended up with an iconic culturally recognizable style.
Everyone is unique. I think it's important to wear what makes you comfortable and not care about what anybody else thinks. Even if you look like a clown!
10. Looking ahead, where would you love to take your work next? Is there a dream genre, character or project still on your creative wish list?
I would love to do more episodic projects like Yaga. Anything where the costume design really plays a pivotal role in the outcome of the film excites me. Whether that's period costumes or futuristic or breakdown.
I love being creative and bringing visions to life. I'm really excited to be attending the Premiere screening of Yaga TIFF in September. After that I'm open to anything that comes my way and hope to just keep expanding my career and making magic!
Sarah Runnalls leaves us reconsidering a familiar morning ritual. If we are all costume designing ourselves each day, perhaps the most interesting question isn't how we want our clothes to make us look, but how we want them to make us feel.
Powerful might be the answer one day. Completely at ease could be another. Mischievous has its moments. Mildly menacing might be exactly what the occasion calls for. There is room to experiment with the character we present to the world while remaining firmly ourselves underneath it all.
It feels especially fitting that Yaga, a project Runnalls describes as a career highlight, gave her the opportunity to explore exactly that idea on screen. Its women dress with confidence and power while sidestepping the visual stereotypes.
We’ll be eagerly awaiting Yaga’s TIFF 2026 premiere in September. And with Runnalls hoping to continue taking on projects where design plays a pivotal role in storytelling, we’ll be equally excited to see the characters—and creative worlds—she brings to life next.
Keep an eye out for Yaga at TIFF 2026, and follow Sarah Runnalls on Instagram to keep up with her latest work and see what she brings to the screen next. Subscribe below to receive our free monthly digital issue, where conversations like this continue to unfold.
