Christie Wittenborn scores laughs in The Hawk. The costume designer had endless opportunities with her titular character, played by Will Ferrell – a former golfing champion with questionable style. His wardrobe is nothing if not unique in the world of golf, which Wittenborn makes far more exciting than the typical polos and slacks that have long dominated the sport.
The Netflix comedy was released just as the costume designer’s splendid work on Apple TV+’s Sugar, in which dapper suits are ever-present in the Colin Farrell-led sci-fi noir, arrived on screens. Whether it’s comedy or a detective story, it’s all storytelling at the end of the day for Wittenborn. “What I love about it is that I get to be part of the storytelling through the costumes,” she told What’s On Netflix. “You get to really bring these characters to life and they get to live and exist within these different stories, be it a drama or a comedy or whatever. You are part of that process.”
Recently, the costume designer spoke with us about her process behind crafting The Hawk‘s singular wardrobe.
You got to collaborate with Willbo for a Hawk collection. How’d that come about?
It came together so fast. I don’t know if you know much about clothing production, but it was lightning speed, and Will’s camp actually connected with this company called Willbo. They’re a Southern California lifestyle brand, and they’re really cool. The collection is inspired by his character from the show.
At any point of costume designing for Lonnie, did you think this will lead to a brand deal?
Actually, no, no. I think we were both just focused on creating the overall look for him. I mean, he’s his own brand.
He is, but he definitely made me think of Sammy Hagar and other guys like him. Who influenced Lonnie?
There’s so much. I mean, when I started this, I should back it up and just say how much I love sports, but I love golf because there’s no uniform. All the golfers can really express themselves. But I think in this day and age, golf and pro golfers in general have become a little more of the same. There’s no individuality.
Back in the day, the golfers that really were on the mood board were like Chi-Chi Rodriguez, Arnold Palmer, oh my gosh, Payne Stewart, Jesper Parnevik, and Ian Poulter. These are all the guys that I had on my mood board, and it’s just a combination of those guys and their spirit. I mean, even Tiger Woods back in the day had a vibe, and he still has a vibe. He has a signature red.
So there are some golfers who still have some personality, but it was really important to cultivate this whole persona and personality for Lonnie.
The Oakley sunglasses are particularly fitting for him. What was your first impression of Lonnie on the page and how to bring him to life?
My first gut reaction was that he’s such a colorful character, and it was all color first. I think he’s a guy that, when he’s on the course, wants to be seen from a mile away. You see him, you’re like, “That’s him. That’s him.”
The Hawk – Season 1. (L to R) Jimmy Tatro as Lance, Will Ferrell as Lonnie, Luke Wilson as Golden in Episode 105 of The Hawk. Cr. Colleen E Hayes/Netflix © 2026
What else did you appreciate about those more stylish golfers you mentioned?
If you go back to even Chi-Chi Rodriguez, just everything – his style, his hat, the way he dressed. Even when he would play, he would do this thing with his hand and the club. It was like he was Zorro. But they all had their own unique style, especially Jesper. Jesper was very cool.
What was his style?
He used to wear this hat, one of those bike hats, and the brim was straight up, something that you would see Spike Lee wear. It was a really cool hat. I just remember that his signature look was that hat, and then his striped pants on the course. That’s pretty wild.
You got to make some pretty wild choices on this show.
Oh man, there was a moment where he was daydreaming. You don’t know at that moment if it’s real or if it’s just in his imagination, but he’s in purple sequin golf pants with bronze leather flames shooting up. That was the most fun.
Not to mention, the woman’s shirt he wears with absolute pride.
Oh, yeah. He was okay with it. And then you know what we did with the shirt? We put darts in it. You know how women’s shirts will have darts? We put that in the polo. I also love how that women’s polo accentuates his tan lines. I also love when he took off his glasses and he had the Oakley tan lines on his face. I mean, there are so many little details like that that are super funny.
Did you want a bit of a stunted, arrested development in his costume design?
I think there was probably a little bit of that because, if you think back, that was his heyday. That’s when he was at the top of his game. I think that whole vibe and that whole look just continued.
I think when you find that niche and that personality, some people just stick with it for the rest of their lives. Haircut, glasses, plaid pants – I mean, I think he’s just like, “Hey man, this works for me, so I’m just going to keep this going. This is my jam.”
It was definitely the more color, the better. There’s no rhyme or reason why he’s putting things together. He’ll put it together and he’s just like, “Yeah, this looks good. The patterns don’t match, but it’s all working.”
What were some of those early costume fittings with Will Ferrell like? How’d you both connect on The Hawk’s style?
His racks would make us so happy. Just the rack of clothing because of all the color and the pattern and everything. Before he even tried anything on, it already looked like we were going to have a good time. Then Will came in and, most of all, he was happy. This is before he started putting stuff on. Those fittings were just joyful.
I will say one costume that made me lau is Luke Wilson’s white turtleneck.
Oh, yeah.
Where did that inspiration come from, to put Luke Wilson in that huge white turtleneck to contrast his blonde hair?
When Luke and I were talking about his character early on, he’s more Arnold Palmer. Luke and I were talking about, okay, what if this guy was a throwback to the guys on the course who would smoke, like Dean Martin, when you would see him on the course with a sweater and a full turtleneck? It’s just such an odd pairing. So really, the turtleneck came out of those conversations of what it would be like if you saw a guy back there trying to emulate the greats of that time.
The Hawk – Season 1. (L to R) Luke Wilson as Golden Fisk, Will Ferrell as Lonnie in Episode 105 of The Hawk. Cr. Colleen E Hayes/Netflix © 2026
When crafting characters, does your mind ever wander back to characters you’ve crossed paths with? Any rich personalities you’ve met that have inspired your work?
I think people who commit to… I don’t know if you’re familiar with Juggalos.
[Laughs] I am, yeah.
Oh, you are? What, are you from Michigan?
I spent a lot of my childhood there.
Well, I remember it was my first day of prep on this film, and we were shooting in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I remember walking around town just trying to get inspired by whatever. They had a Juggalo convention. I was like, “What is this?” Insane Clown Posse, that’s it. These guys had clown makeup on, but then they had wide-leg rave pants – and the look blew my mind. My head was exploding. I was taking photos left and right. I got to the production office and I told the director, “I just came from a Juggalo convention. Look at this. We have to put them in the film.”
I like how a Juggalo convention was a gold mine for someone, at least.
Yes, it was definitely a gold mine for me. I went down a rabbit hole of Juggalos. It was pretty intense.
By the way, congratulations on having both The Hawk and the new season of Sugar out in the world.
Thank you.
Obviously Lonnie and Sugar (Colin Farrell) could not be more different, but any similarities for you when it comes to costume designing your protagonists?
When I approach any project, I start with deep character research and think about how this person lives and exists in their world. With Sugar, he has a deep love and appreciation for film noir and for the finer things. The little details and everything that he loves in his life, like tradition. He loves quality in everything that he purchases, be it his car, his suits, how his suits are made, down to his cuff links. He’s precise about everything that he is into. So yeah, I will go into a deep dive of research about the character first.
Colin Farrell looks beautiful on Sugar in those suits, really popping in the L.A. environments. How happy are you when you see the suits in the finished show?
I thank God that it’s intact because with him, another thing to consider is that he’s not just walking and talking in these great suits. There’s a lot of action and a lot of things going on, and he’s existing in and out of the day into night and all the things that he’s either researching or whatever job he’s working on. You just want to make sure that that suit holds up. We really had to figure out what fabrics were going to work and what fabric was going to hold up with all the action that he was doing. If you’ve seen season one and season two, you see that he’s very active.
