‘Napoleon’ Costume Designers Explain How They Made Joaquin Phoenix a Vegan-Friendly, Period-Authentic Hat

The costume designers of Napoleon made sure to keep the garments worn in the film true to the period's fashion — even when it came to star Joaquin Phoenix's felt hat.

Phoenix, who is an outspoken vegan activist, could not wear the material since it is made of an animal byproduct.

"One of the things I was most worried about was producing his hat, because [Phoenix] can’t wear felt. It’s a wool item,” military costume design expert David Crossman told the Los Angeles Times. "If the hat were a synthetic [material], it would look terrible. Then we came across a processed tree bark, which looks very much like felt and has an interesting texture.”

Designer Janty Yates also revealed the duo did a "huge amount of hands-on research" to make sure the pieces were historically accurate, visiting museums and historical sites.

Crossman went on to tell the outlet the grueling process of creating more than 4,000 uniforms for the film, which explores Napoleon Bonaparte’s personal life and military career and is well-documented in art history. Directed by Ridley Scott, Phoenix plays the titular character opposite Vanessa Kirby, who portrays Empress Josephine. 

"You wake up at three in the morning absolutely terrified, because you are so worried about it getting done. Plus, you want it to look lovely, because it is Napoleon," Crossman continued. "You want it to look something like those paintings, because all of the paintings of the period are beautiful. You want it to look like that and not a terrible costume movie."