John Wick's Suits Were Designed With A Glock In Mind
Throughout all three of his movies so far, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) has always understood that it's not enough to be the scariest, most efficient killer in a world full of trained assassins; you also have to be the best dressed too. That's why he's constantly wearing the coolest suit you've ever seen, even if technically it'd be smarter for him to dress in something that allows a little more flexibility. In a 2019 interview with Film Independent, costume designer Luca Mosca described Wick's suits as "sleek and elegant," a perfect fit for the world these movies take place in, where everything, from the buildings to the cars, looks high-class and modern.
Mosca's main inspiration for Wick's suits, however, was his gun: "In the script for the first film, there was a reference to the Glock in terms of John Wick's look. Even though a gun is dangerous and can be lethal, the Glock I looked at was charcoal gray, sleek and elegant in the way it caught the light." Sound familiar? Mosca explained further: "Keanu is tall, slim and fit, and he's blessed with an elegant demeanor and posture. Honestly, my job was made much easier with an actor like him."
The Glock is a very modern-looking gun, just like John's suits. "The fashion of this decade — where men's suits have a more tapered and slim-fitting look — is perfect for the clean lines of John's suits," Mosca explained. "It wouldn't have worked in the '80s or '90s when men's suits were more 'relaxed fit.'"
A man in mourning
The colors of Wick's suits, or rather the lack of colors, is also intended as a reflection of the character. The first movie's villain Viggo Tarasov (Michael Nyqvist) may wear a red dress shirt under his suit, but Wick's outfits are usually some combination of black and grey. "With the first film my goal was to create a costume for a man whose heart has been broken; his life has been robbed of all meaning," said Mosca. "So John's clothes are always gray, charcoal gray, black and white, sticking to a monochromatic color palette. He is a man in perpetual mourning."
What also helps sell this is the way these movies are filmed, which often make the suits look even darker than they actually are. "John Wick" films are one of the few modern movies that buck the growing trend of badly-lit night-time shots; Mosca describes the film's lighting as "reminiscent of the Baroque period's rich regal colors," and explains how the Wick films' night scenes often "allow a gray or midnight blue to look as if it's black."
We don't know what will happen in the upcoming fourth film, which releases March 24 this year, but considering his similarly dark outfits in the trailer, it looks like John's status as a man in perpetual mourning isn't changing any time soon. We don't know if happiness is possible for John as he heads about his next dangerous journey, and it doesn't seem like killing all these new people is going to make things better for him. All we know for sure is that, as always, John's gonna look good doing it.