In 'M3GAN 2.0,' A Fashion Makeover Fit For A Teen Robot

It was the pussybow that launched 1,000 cosplays.

In 2022, M3GAN danced (and murdered) her way into our hearts with the surprising horror film of the year; now, she’s officially back. On June 27, M3GAN 2.0 officially hits theaters to answer the one question we’ve all been asking: “What’s she going to wear?”

To get some insight, we went straight to the source: costume designer Jeriana San Juan, who upgraded the titular character with five brand-new looks, ranging from what she calls a “cyber-punk robot” moment to a fresh spin on her original uniform. “[When] a girl looks at a dress that she wore when she was 8 years old, she doesn't want to wear that anymore,” explains San Juan. “When she's 13, she wants to wear something that's a little bit of a different version of herself.”

Here, a breakdown of all the new looks — start planning your fashion costume now.

When did this process first start for you?

I had a good amount of concept development time, and that really was spent in creative meetings with Gerard [Johnston, the film’s director] exploring the different ideas that he wanted to go after in this script, and the development of the new character of Amelia and the evolution and upgrade to M3GAN.

From a costume perspective, did you start the process as viewing this project as a sequel, or as its own thing?

I addressed the script that was in front of us on its own. I definitely watched the first film and did my research into what had been embedded into the cultural conscience. In the same way that M3GAN herself goes dormant, we were able to build a new body and a new identity into this film. We really wanted her to have sort of a little evolution in her maturity and her style sensibility.

In the first film, M3GAN has just one look, which has already become horror costume canon. How do you evolve that for a sequel?

The idea was essentially to use that look as something of a code; imagine all of the pieces and elements of that look turn into pixels and reform again as a different image. What would she reimagine for herself? And what parts of the DNA of that look are going to stick and morph into something new? It was definitely about keeping the same language of the color palette, keeping the same retro elements. In this new invention of herself, there is the sense of empowerment in her identity, so I pulled from second-wave feminism.

Sketches of M3GAN’s new look.

How many iterations did you go through before landing on the new version of her original look?

She ultimately has five new looks in this movie, and they're all meant to service a different objective. When I first started exploring this in the early concept phases, I went on to a few different AI tools, and asked them, “What would you wear if you were a person?” And in every case, it talked about optimization and mobility.

For M3GAN, her objective is that she wants to find her identity as something that has evolved and matured. She identifies as a girl who is growing. She has a very similar path as Cady in the film; in the same way that Cady is maturing and growing, M3GAN has been doing that alongside her. The same way a girl looks at a dress that she wore when she was 8 years old, she doesn't want to wear that anymore. When she's 13, she wants to wear something that's a little bit of a different version of herself.

How much is M3GAN a fashion girl?

A core part of her code is to have style. She was designed to be similar to an American Girl doll, in the first film. She's still kind of got the same sensibilities, and an interest in things that have this vague kind of Victorian noir-meets-retro sensibility.

Obviously her original look went viral, and has become super recognizable. Did you feel the pressure of creating something that just as equally could become, say, a Halloween costume, for example?

It was definitely part of the conversation as we're reviewing the new ideas: “What people are gonna really respond to? What still honors the M3GAN identity?” And there's always the question of, “What can people DIY to cosplay this?” But that's never really at the forefront of my mind.

Do you have a personal favorite look from the film?

I think it’s her red cyberpunk look. So much work went into that. It was essentially my own love letter to tech. It is tech meets fashion on every level. It really was the most ridiculous thing I have maybe ever designed.