Before the Vigil, the Redesigning team throws its own 2025 Hellfire Gala

It’s been two years since the last official Hellfire Gala, but the minds of X-fans are still hot with inspiration!

The latest season of the hit video game Marvel Rivals has been a love letter to the First Krakoan Age. Emma Frost, with a brand-new costume, haircut and thunder thighs, invited us all to the Hellfire Gala. The game developers wrote a beautiful letter about how much Krakoa and the Hellfire Gala inspired them, and how they wanted to do justice to such an amazing part of comics history. Players got to fight through Krakoa, seeing for themselves the fireworks over the sea, the Quiet Council’s chamber and incredible gala decorations. It was a return to a more joyous time.

Then came the news that the X-Men would host a Hellfire Vigil in the comics this year, as a tribute to what was lost, and a promise to move forward in community. As in years past, new, extravagant looks were unveiled for our favorite characters.

Our imaginations once again ran wild. How could we turn down the chance to go back to the excess and drama that is mutant fashion? 

For this challenge, our artists returned to feelings of joy and hope, bringing fresh, new Hellfire looks to their favorite mutants for 2025. You’ll notice several looks that reflect the characters’ journeys in their post-Krakoa stories.

Follow all of the incredible artists on social media to see more of their art and designs!

R.L. White — Jean Grey and Cyclops

rlwhitesillustrations on Instagram and Tumblr

RLWhitesArt on X and Bluesky

I chose the Summers-Grey couple, Jean and Cyclops, for a couple of reasons:

1. I drew Jean several times but not Cyclops, and this is the best choice for me, first time drawing them together.
2. For the couple’s style, I wanted to try out a more galactic look with a combination of their current comic costumes.

For Cyclops, I put him in my customized Thierry Mugler ’86 jumpsuit with a gold cyberpunk visor. Feels more like the galactic hero type. As for Jean Grey, aka Phoenix, I put her in a goddess-type gown that’s inspired by Sagittaria’s Cielo look from Drag Race España: All Stars painted gold and deep space with roses above her crown. 

Ever since the Hellfire Gala existed, I’ve been having a lot of fun creating fashion and costumes with a burning passion. It’s an OBSESSION! I went full Edna Mode on two lovely mutants who were original X-Men members. It’s a blessing, I would say!

Rake — Karma

pastelrake on all socials 

Karma is an often overlooked character in the X-Men franchise who rarely gets the chance to enjoy a new, glamorous look. I played with textured, asymmetric separates different from the classic New Mutants training uniform to express her new confidence. Her hot pink power signature is now muted against a contrasting off-white, and her prosthetic leg is now a tasteful accessory featuring a designer cover. I like to imagine Xuan finally recognized as a mature, capable leader among her peers who isn’t afraid to be daring.

Lily Haverly — Jubilee

daisyrose2313 on X, daisyrose1319 on Instagram

Much like her powers and personality, I wanted this gown to be explosive and vibrant. Using Jubilee’s classic pinks and yellows, I had the ruffles of the dress mimic the plumes of an explosive cloud, while her ear cuff and bodice felt more in line with sharp and exciting fireworks. I also included an insane amount of glitter. Because I could!

Isaiah Cox — Darkveil

isacoart.bsky.social on Bluesky, isacoart on Instagram

I’ve been waiting for a chance to do a look for Darkveil for a while now and even had a moodboard I had been working on since February. The crux of the outfit is the corset. I modeled it after the Jean Paul Gaultier Spring 1999 Couture fan corset, an OBVIOUS find for a diva whose main accessory is a fan!

Next, I gave her some tights inspired by Coperni Fall ’25 RTW (ready-to-wear), modified to have some fun orange pouches as a nod to her original costume. Finally, she’s completely enveloped by a giant boa made of tulle and a bit of Darkforce energy; love a power-incorporated-into-the-outfit moment! 

For the rest of her look, I wanted to give a nod to ’90s banjee-girl styles, so I gave her a stacked, half-up-half-down updo à la Black hair shows, and some triangular bamboo earrings made out of Mysterium, I’m sure fashioned by our good sis Polaris! I really wanted to show some love to my diva because I know the gays have been missing her BADLY throughout these past galas, so hopefully I’m able to give some life to the X-fans who’ve been missing our divalicious sister!

Trae Middlebrooks — Blink, Mondo, Prodigy

Trae.Drew.That on instagram

May I introduce the Blink Twins! The Clarice Fergusons of two different universes, together for the first time on the green carpet. I’ve nicknamed them Rece (Earth-616) and Cece (Age of Apocalypse). Both are wearing fancier interpretations of their original outfits, with some Bahamian flourishes. 

Mondo is wearing a luxurious asymmetrical grass cape with a red tie-dyed lavalava. Mondo’s power allows him to become whatever material he touches, which is most often naturally occurring objects like rocks, water, trees, etc. He does not have Pe’a tattoos (traditional tatau of Samoa) on his body. But I thought it would be cool for him to turn parts of his body into the rings of a tree in the areas where those traditional tattoos are normally placed (between the waist and knees). I wanted to simultaneously showcase his awesome mutant abilities and his Samoan heritage in a visually interesting way. 

I wanted to design an outfit for Prodigy that honors his new position as Professor Alleyne in NYX. Inspired by the metal artwork of Blackmarzian, I designed a face/hair ornament that visually represents how Prodigy’s mutant power aggregates the knowledge of others into new ideas. His suit is a kind of deconstruction of what one might think a professor would wear, with an Afrofuturist twist. Also, I think cutouts in suits are sexy. Finally, the dashing man in silver is David’s current boyfriend, Dante!

(For the record, I don’t think Prodigy should go to another Hellfire Gala, bad things keep happening to him at that event. Hopefully this year will be different.)

Beefcake Boss — Domino

Beefcakeboss on Instagram

Domino slays in a different way in this nod to a mod domino-pattern gown. Don’t let the elegant high braid fool you, created by Dr. Nemesis, these Medusa extensions can become a dangerous prehensile whip with an electric charge. Luck be a lady at this year’s Hellfire Gala, and she’s Fierce.

Kunal Chopra — Wolverine

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So for this design, as a big fan of Wolverine, I’ve never liked any of his previous Gala looks. I felt like he was just given the most boring outfits and pushed to the side. On the other hand, I didn’t want to go too flashy, either; that wouldn’t fit the character.

I’ve always liked the cowboy/lumberjack look he dons when he’s in casual attire and wanted to pull from there, so I started looking at more high-fashion cowboy attire until I found a bunch of outfits I liked and put them together. I wanted Logan to have a big coat made out of wolverine fur with the claws still attached to mirror his own, and gave him one of those fancy ball masks based off his cowl as an added touch.

Alex Buckland — Emma Frost

blueromanticss on Instagram, X and Bluesky

It’s simply not a gala without Ms. Frost. I was inspired by a dress designed by Jean Paul Gaultier, and I wanted to take that and try to make it bigger, because it’s drag, darling. 

Michael Theo — Tommy

yourwario on Instagram and X.

For my design, I thought it would be interesting to see what the Morlocks would bring to the Gala. Newly resurrected and ready to celebrate with her mutant brothers and sisters, I was excited to let Tommy shine. The beauty of the Hellfire Gala is making looks that can only be possible with the use of people’s mutant abilities, so I gave her a fun silhouette with big, flat hands and made her hair fold up into her hat.

Haydn — Bling!

ThatsSoHaydn on Instagram

For this outfit I took inspiration from Symone’s “Trains for Days” Runway from RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 13. I wanted to include a variety of textures, like fraying denim and silk, to contrast with Bling’s! crystalline skin. I also wanted to include a similar silhouette with the bomber jacket she often wears. 

Dia Falconer — Pixie

diatoonz on Instagram, unteletoonz everywhere else

My favorite thing when creating new looks for Pixie is to lean into the 2000s aesthetics, and this was no exception. I wanted to play on the controversial dress-over-jeans look that was plaguing the red carpets of Disney Channel Original Movies everywhere, while dressing it up and turning it into a floor-length fitted gown. The dark, holographic fabric is a nod to the darker side of her soul, all covered up by butterflies and glitter.

Joe Pryde — Northstar, Wind Dancer and Dazzler

Joe Pryde Art & Cosplay (@JoePrydeCosplay) on X

Art of Joe Pryde! (@artofjoepryde.bsky.social) on Bluesky

Joe Pryde Cosplay on Instagram

My designs for this year’s Hellfire Gala are heavily inspired by pop divas past and present, including Lil Nas X, Sabrina Carpenter and Selena Quintanilla, but with my own twist.