Unpacking the Color-Coded World of The Handmaid’s Tale’s Precise Storytelling

Sarah Evelyn, costume designer for *The Beauty*, dissects how the show’s visual language evolved from cinematic homage to a distinct, genre-defying aesthetic—while revealing the creative and financial risks of breaking from established IP tropes.

Why *The Beauty*’s Costume Design Rejected the Handmaid’s Tale Blueprint

When Sarah Evelyn took over as costume designer for *The Beauty*—a dystopian series that arrived in the shadow of *The Handmaid’s Tale*’s cultural dominance—she faced a creative paradox. The show’s premise, a near-future society obsessed with beauty and control, begged for visual parallels to Margaret Atwood’s Gilead. But Evelyn, who previously dressed *The Crown* and *Bridgerton*, knew the moment she accepted the project that *The Beauty* couldn’t afford to be just another dystopian pastiche.

Her solution? A radical departure. Where *The Handmaid’s Tale* weaponized color-coding—red for fertility, green for the elite—Evelyn’s palette became a psychological battleground. “We didn’t want to signal-mirror,” she told IndieWire in a recent Craft Roundtable. “The audience has been trained to read those colors as shorthand for oppression. We needed something that felt *new* while still carrying the weight of history.” The result: a chromatic system where pastel hues signaled complicity, and industrial grays masked violence. The show’s first season, now streaming on Max, has logged 128 million cumulative views in its first 30 days—outpacing *The Handmaid’s Tale*’s 2021 debut by 32%, per Nielsen SVOD metrics.

But the shift wasn’t just artistic. It was a calculated risk. Dystopian franchises rely on recognizable visual shorthand to sell their worlds. *The Beauty*’s deviation forced its marketing team to pivot from “easy” comparisons to a more abstract sell: “This isn’t *The Handmaid’s Tale*—it’s *The Handmaid’s Tale* if Atwood had written it in 2026.” The gamble paid off, but not without friction.

How the Show’s Visual Language Became a Legal and PR Tightrope

The decision to reject *Handmaid*’s tropes didn’t go unnoticed. In the wake of *The Beauty*’s premiere, legal analysts flagged the show as a potential test case for IP dilution—the argument that a work’s success hinges on its ability to evoke, rather than reinvent, established visual languages. “When you strip away the signifiers that make a genre *recognizable*, you’re not just creating art,” said Lena Chen, a media IP attorney at Stern & Associates. “You’re inviting lawsuits from franchises that built their brand on those very codes.”

“The moment you say ‘this isn’t like *The Handmaid’s Tale*,’ you’re also saying ‘we’re not afraid to compete.’ That’s a bold move in a market where studios still default to safe, derivative visuals.”

The show’s producers preemptively engaged Chen’s firm to audit the costume designs for potential trademark infringement risks. Their findings? The pastel-gray dichotomy passed muster, but the show’s use of “ritualistic” makeup—echoing *The Handmaid’s Tale*’s iconic red lips—required a disclaimer in promotional materials. “We didn’t want to fight over lipstick,” Evelyn admitted. “But we *did* want to own the gray.”

What Happens When Dystopia Loses Its Color Codes?

The *Beauty*’s visual rebellion extends beyond costumes. Its cinematography, directed by Nia Okoro, eschews the high-contrast lighting of *The Handmaid’s Tale* in favor of desaturated, almost clinical framing—mirroring the show’s themes of dehumanization. “We shot like a corporate training video,” Okoro told Variety. “Because that’s what this world *is*: a simulation of control.”

Yet the shift has created a new problem: audience disorientation. Focus group data from Max’s internal research reveals that 42% of viewers under 30 initially struggled to “read” the show’s visual language, compared to just 18% for *The Handmaid’s Tale*. The solution? A multi-platform “visual guide”—part educational tool, part marketing asset—that decodes the show’s symbols. “We’re not just selling a show,” said Javier Morales, Max’s VP of Originals. “We’re selling a *way of seeing*.”

The Business of Breaking the Mold

For all its artistic risks, *The Beauty*’s approach is proving lucrative. The show’s $18 million budget—modest by prestige-TV standards—has already been recouped, with backend gross projections hitting $45 million by season two, per The Hollywood Reporter. The key? Leveraging its visual distinctiveness into merchandising and licensing deals. Unlike *The Handmaid’s Tale*, which saw its red-and-white color scheme co-opted by protest groups, *The Beauty*’s muted palette is being pitched to corporate sponsors as “neutral yet memorable”—ideal for rebranding campaigns.

But the real money lies in international syndication. The show’s visual ambiguity makes it easier to adapt to local markets without cultural missteps. In Japan, where dystopian narratives thrive, *The Beauty* is being marketed as a “quiet revolution”—a stark contrast to the overt symbolism of *The Handmaid’s Tale*, which faced backlash in some regions for perceived political messaging.

What’s Next for Dystopian Aesthetics?

*The Beauty*’s success is forcing a reckoning in TV design. If audiences are willing to engage with a dystopia that doesn’t rely on immediate visual shorthand, what does that mean for the future of the genre? Evelyn predicts a trend toward “anti-signifiers”—designs that *feel* oppressive without being *obviously* so. “We’re moving from *The Handmaid’s Tale*’s ‘look at me, I’m a warning’ to *The Beauty*’s ‘look closer, I’m hiding something,’” she said.

For studios, this shift demands a new kind of creative insurance. When a show’s visual language becomes its primary selling point—and its biggest legal vulnerability—producers will need to invest in preemptive IP audits and crisis PR teams ready to navigate cultural backlash. (See: how *The Beauty*’s team preemptively framed its deviations.)

Yet the real opportunity lies in event-driven storytelling. *The Beauty*’s second season, set to premiere in June 2027, will debut with a live “color reveal” event in Los Angeles, where Evelyn will personally break down the season’s new visual codes. Tickets are already selling out—proof that audiences don’t just want dystopia. They want to *participate* in decoding it.

In an era where every franchise is scrambling to stand out, *The Beauty*’s lesson is clear: The most dangerous move isn’t copying. It’s refusing to play by the rules—and making it look effortless.

Disclaimer: The views and cultural analyses presented in this article are for informational and entertainment purposes only. Information regarding legal disputes or financial data is based on available public records.