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In Resident Evil, the 2002 film based on the popular video game series of the same name, Alice (Milla Jovovich) wakes up with no memory of who or where she is. But she knows one thing: She has to fight. As she awakes to Raccoon City being overtaken by the undead, she quickly realizes she has a superhuman ability to fight zombies—and she proceeds to do so while looking vastly more fabulous than you’d expect someone in her situation to be. 20 years later, Resident Evil is still the most stylish zombie movie ever made, all thanks to the action heroine’s unexpectedly chic wardrobe. And in honor of the anniversary, Vogue is looking back on the popular franchise’s action-packed style.
At the beginning of the first film, Alice finds herself in a strange house. She finds a silky, red, slip dress mysteriously laid out for her on a bed to wear—a stylish garment that she then spends the rest of the movie kicking some serious zombie butt in. Sure, the plot may be centered around her and a special military unit trying to stop a deadly virus from overrunning the earth, but the fresh costuming shares the stage. Alice wields guns and does backflips off the wall in her asymmetrical gown, punctuated with edgy, leather knee boots.
The iconic look, which has gone on to be a popular cosplay and Halloween costume, was designed by Richard Bridgland. Fun fact: Bridgland, who was the film’s production designer, was never supposed to do the costuming, but he felt inspired to bring forward some fashion ideas for Alice. “[Director] Paul Anderson couldn’t find a costume designer he liked,” Bridgland told the website Film Doctor in 2016. “I, rather rashly, offered to do some costume concepts.” After taking on the role, he and Jovovich went shopping for the ensemble together, and collectively landed on the slashed silhouette, which felt strong and bold like the character.
While the first film’s ensemble is her most famous, Alice’s fashion-forward style only gets amplified in the six sequels that follow the original. In 2004’s Resident Evil Apocalypse, she wears an orange tank with a mesh overlay, and black jeans with one leg cut-off into shorts (very avant-garde!). In Resident Evil: Retribution, she goes for more of a futuristic vibe by slipping into a leather catsuit with an edgy harness (very Dion Lee). As a genetically-modified human, it only makes sense that Alice’s fashion choices are superhuman in feel—but who knew clones had such taste?
Even better yet, the secondary characters in the Resident Evil films also serve up epic looks of their own. We see this best in Retribution, where we get cameos from original video game characters like Jill Valentine—played by Sienna Guillory, who sports a tight blue minidress. Ada Wong, (Li Bingbing), sports a red ball gown with a high slit, exposing her gun harness on the leg, of course. The Resident Evil girls are armed to kill, but their collective wardrobes are even more killer. In the vein of action movies like Catwoman or Kill Bill, the series takes great pride in outfitting its heroines with clothes that match their fighting skills, something that truly takes Resident Evil to the next level. There’s still no better high-fashion zombie flick. Fashion and action: what more could you possibly want?
