This satirical and dystopian action film involved Sly Stallone as a cop who ends up being woken up, along with his nemesis, in a supposedly idyllic future where crime has for the most part been eliminated - along with sex, swearing, meat, smoking and all that other fun stuff. The future 'San Angeles' is protected by a police force whose members sport fascist but rather slightly camp uniforms, with slight futuristic touches such as a mandarin collar, diagonal strips on the shirts and jackets, and a little fax machine on their belt instead of any sort of weapon.
Bob Ringwood wasn't too impressed with the final result as he felt they chose actors who looked too tough and made the uniforms less an ironic contrast. The police chief's uniform also looks militaristic, with his tunics mandarin collar fitted with patches resembling German officer collar tabs.
By contrast to the police uniforms, the denizens of San Angeles are ruled by Dr. Cocteau (Nigel Hawthorne) who wears a variety of kimono-like garments that are fitted with a raised collar in a similar manner to Edwardian men's suits. The intention according to Ringwood was how, according to the script, people would cover themselves from the sun, as well as implying that East Asian countries now had more cultural dominance - India is another one of the nations mentioned as having became more powerful, which is seen especially with how Cocteau's white outfit is worn with a Gandhi cap, possibly as a way of trying to show himself as a man of peace.
His associate, who is aptly named Associate Bob (Glenn Shadix) wears a patterned peach kimono, with a similr belt as to his superior.
The various other citizens of San Angeles also sport fashions that seem to be a mix of Japanese and Indian traditional garments, with some high fashion influences.
The staff of the cryoprison wear smocks that also seem to be in a slightly kimono-like design, made of a shiny blue-green material as well, with ribbed strips down the sleeves and collars.
Even Stallone is made to wear similar garments for when he has dinner at Taco Bell (or, Pizza Hut, if its the European cut), sporting this wide-shoulded shirt made of a patterned dark grey material.
The aforementioned Taco Bell/Pizza Hut dinner scene also has us see the most standout dress of the film; a jewelled short dress worn by Huxley (Sandra Bullock) which is also briefly worn with a grey jacket covered in greyish imitation fur.
Other dresses in this scene include the one worn by Bob's partner, which is black with cream and white lining over the chest, and Cocteau's associate wearing a shiny metallic vest over her grey dress. The staff at Taco Bell wear dresses and suits, the dresses having a floral material over the back and shoulders, the suits having it over the sleeves with similarly coloured sashes over the waist.
Of course, some of the film's most iconic looks are sported by fellow 1996 relic Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes), who has been awaken to kill Edgar Friendly (Denis Leary), the leader of the 'Scraps'. The Scraps are an underground society living in opposition to Cocteau's supposed utopia, and of course for this part of his assignment Phoenix wears the Scraps' armor. The Scraps have a look Ringwood described as '
Mad Max but not punky'. Phoenix's Scrap armor in fact seems to be constructed out of what seems to be cut up tyres, that are even arranged to have a raised collar. Edgar Friendly himself wears a makeshift armored jumpsuit, itself worn under a grubby overcoat.
