There are a lot of great things going on in The Good Place, NBC’s high-concept, existentially shape-shifting sitcom: an extremely attractive ensemble cast, pitch-perfect writing, clever set design, an abundance of easter eggs each episode. With all the cliffhangers, trolley problems, and celebrity references, it would be easy to overlook the clothes. At times, the costuming is sometimes intricate, other times simple. But look closely and you’ll realize it’s also coded—just another piece of The Good Place’s endlessly clever puzzle.

That’s thanks to the mind of costume director Kirston Mann, whose resume includes The United States of Tara, Lars and the Real Girl, and the brilliant (and unfairly cancelled) Lady Dynamite. Long before we were paying attention to Ted Danson’s ties, Mann set herself apart on sets with outfits like Leslie Knope’s wedding dress.

GQ spoke with Kirston about what outfits you’ll never see, and the work involved in dressing both humans and demons from multiple worlds.

GQ: This is your third show with creator Michael Schur after Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. How is The Good Place different from them? It seemed really distinctive starting from the pilot.

Kriston Mann: It is otherworldly, although we try to ground it with a lot of different rules. Color-wise, we stick to a certain palate to separate “the real world” from the Good Place. We never wear red or pinks. Occasionally, Jameela [Jamil, who plays Tahani Al-Jamil] might have a little touch of red in her dress in the second season but we don’t use any of those kinds of colors because the Good Place is green for good. If you remember in the pilot, having described the point system, [Michael] describes the good woman in green and the bad people in red. It’s just literally like a stoplight, like you don’t get to pass go. If you’re scrolling back to the pilot, what I loved about the blue and yellow chevron, although it’s the colors of [the University of] Michigan, the combination of them is green. That’s how I talked myself into really loving that kind of print everyone is wearing in quite a few scenes.

That was one of the first things that struck me about the show’s costume design. It’s one thing to tailor cop uniforms. It’s another to make dozens of custom outfits in the pilot. How long did it take you and your team to make those?

That is the most fun thing that can happen to a costume designer. [laughs] We had at least three weeks heads up, made the bolts of fabric, had a whole sewing room going, and made everything they would actually wear. We patterned their most iconic looks in that fabric. Ted is wearing a chevron blue and yellow bowtie.

It was so much fun. A lot of shows are shopping [ready-to-wear items] and altering. That Good Place scene is a high point for me. Being able to make all of those costumes, everything you see on screen is made by us.

It was clear there was a lot of custom costumes for Janet as well, such as the all-white uniform or every time she was rebooted.

We made everything that Janet wears. That’s been a ton of fun with Janet and Bad Janet. We make a lot of costumes for her and D’Arcy [Carden] is the sweetest person. She does such a good job going between the two. We make a lot of Tahani’s dresses as well. We go back and forth between buying for her and once we find something that fits amazing, making things for her. Just because we can. And we can find some amazing fabric.