When Renée April designed costumes for The Neverending Story she had to forget that she was a grown up and pretended that she was a child.

"In my mind's eye, I had to see the characters and their costumes from a child's perspective," says April. That's because in The Neverending Story, the magical kingdom of Fantasia, its creatures and people are the imaginative creations of a 12-year-old boy, Bastian Bux. "And after I planned a costume I kept asking myself how children watching this on television would react to it. My aim was always to make the clothes different and charming," says April.

The costumes in The Neverending Story are whimsical and unique because of their fantastical elements.

Take the Black Knights' outfits for example. They look gigantesque because they are seven feet tall!

"I didn't want the knights to wear platform shoes so I put the extra height into the helmet. The actors are actually looking through the mouthpiece, and not the eye slits. My objective was to make the Knights menacing but not ghoulish and not garish," says April.

The hand-made, moulded fibreglass helmets have horns, similar to what Viking warriors wore on their helmets in the last century. The gorgets that cover the neck are made from black leather. The shoulder plates also have horns. The arm and elbow pieces are of moulded plastic, painted silver. The leather breastplates have a reptilian texture. The legs are covered with chain mail. For added, eerie effect, black velvet capes trimmed in leather, float down the back of the costumes.

For Xayide, the Dark Princess, "I was inspired by all the witches I ever saw depicted in movies and storybooks," April says. "I had so much fun!" Xayide has several costumes, all with archetypal "evil" elements.