If you’re a fan of “GLOW,” you know that the clothing plays a very big role in the series. Based on the 1980s wrestling TV series “Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling,” the Netflix dramedy follows the escapades of a dozen women trying to carve a place for themselves in what was then considered a man’s world. Their wardrobes include leg warmers and parachute pants, and are made from velour, velvet, polyester, and spandex.

Costume designer Beth Morgan has worked on “GLOW” since the beginning, collaborating with creators and showrunners Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch, EP Jenji Kohan, and the cast, Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, Kate Nash, Britney Young, and Sydelle Noel among them. Morgan’s other credits include “The Carmichael Show,” “The Last Man on Earth,” and “Key and Peele.” She received an Emmy nod for her work on “Deadwood.”

We talked to Morgan about the inspiration behind her “GLOW” fashion choices, the camaraderie among the cast and crew, and how the costumes bring female empowerment front and center.

Seasons 1 and 2 of “GLOW” are now on Netflix. Season 3 is expected this summer.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

W&H: How did the opportunity to work on “GLOW” present itself to you?

BM: It was perfect timing. I had met Liz at the birthday party of a mutual friend. We ended up chatting mainly about our kids — we’re both moms. Then “GLOW” came along and ticked all the boxes of the things that I love. So, I reached out to her and got a meeting. Both she and Carly liked my pitch, and that’s how I got the job.

W&H: Did you watch the original “Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling” for inspiration?

BM: I had watched it before I went in for my first meeting and I watched it again obviously before we shot Season 1, but our show is a different story. I remembered the key elements I loved about it, but we wanted our design elements not just to pay tribute but to be original. If you watched the actual show, it really was very homemade. We wanted to translate that grittiness to our show.

I love the part of the story of Season 1 where all these girls are coming together to do the show from different backgrounds and for different reasons. They’re all finding their strengths, stepping up to the plate, and having the same dream.

W&H: How would you describe your collaboration with this team of women?

BM: It’s amazing to work with women that I have known over the course of my 15-year career. These women are also friends, mentors, and colleagues. It’s so great to be working with the women who I have a shorthand with, and I love that they think of me for things. It’s an awesome place to be.

W&H: In many respects, you seem to have come full circle in your career. What’s it like working with Jenji Kohan and her team?

BM: I always say to Jenji and Tara [Herrmann, another “GLOW” executive producer] that I would exclusively work with them if that were an opportunity. It’s such an amazing environment to be in. Jenji has a beautiful theater in [LA’s] MacArthur Park, which she has converted into a very bright, welcoming, happy place in which to create. The “GLOW” office is there for the writers. At the time we were making this show, “Orange Is the New Black” and Jenji’s new show “American Princess” were also in production, so the various teams were working alongside one another.

I always have such a positive experience when I’m there. They order lunch — we all sit together at a table in the kitchen and eat together; we don’t talk about work. Jenji has a nursery with a playroom for people with babies. It feels like a family work environment, which is really such a blessing in this industry.

W&H: It sounds like a very empowering set.

BM: Yes, it’s a very empowering women-driven situation to be in. It’s very utopian. Jenji and her team have so many great things in development. It’s inspiring to see what they’ve created and how she has godmothered other people. She’s been a mentor to many women and has helped their shows come to fruition in a very thought-provoking way.

It’s also really empowering to see what she’s doing and take a lesson on how to lead as I figure out, as a department head, to help other women in the industry. When I’m offered a job I’m no longer interested in or it’s below my pay scale, I pass it on to my fellow colleagues or assistants. I really try to take what Jenji has done on a macro level and do it on my own micro level.

W&H: Can you describe what it’s like to work with showrunners/creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch?

BM: Working with Liz and Carly is so collaborative. Plus, they complement each other really well. They’re two very different women who work well with each other and are so supportive of each other. They’re also supportive of me as a designer and of our collaboration on “GLOW.”

In Season 2 at the end, there’s the big wedding finale. It was originally scripted that Rhonda [Nash’s character] was in a bridal gown and the rest of the cast was in their normal “GLOW” costumes. I had this burning idea I could do the scene in bridesmaids’ dresses, like leotards and a tear-away dress for Rhonda so she could wrestle right after the wedding. I took the idea right to my bosses. Liz was immediately into it. She’s more glitz and glamour; Carly is more dirt and real. I sketched it all out, and they both loved it. That was a career high for me. It was the culmination of something perfect where an original idea went all the way to the screen. You’re not always in situations to express an unscripted idea in this industry.

W&H: The show is such a great speaking piece on female empowerment, and the clothes are a big part of that. Can you speak to your creative process?

BM: For design in particular and what ends up on the screen, it was really important that there was a positive body image for everyone in the cast. When you look back at fashion history going back all the way to the corset and the girdle, there was a time of looseness as far as under-garments for women. In the 1980s, there was no disposable fashion but there were more choices available to people. Your grandmother had the same dress for 20 years. The mall culture was getting really big, so there was more variety and things were much more relaxed. People had new priorities.

Working on the show, we didn’t want everyone’s style to be perfect because that wasn’t a reflection of American culture in the ’80s. Every woman is beautiful, no matter their shape, size, color, or race. We wanted to find a way to show each character and how people of all different shapes can use fashion as an expression of themselves.

W&H: How do you vary certain looks between the women, who are so different and diverse, with such different body types, and how does the clothing push the storylines?

BM: In the journey you see Carmen [Britney Young’s character] go on, she has been raised by men. Her brothers would go off and do all these wrestling matches and bring her back a T-shirt. For Carmen, it’s beautiful because these women open her eyes to what femininity means and being a woman and getting yourself out there and getting new experiences.

Each character has that little story, especially for Debbie [Betty Gilpin] in Season 2 as she becomes a powerful producer and steps into that role. She has a beautiful [clothing arc] with the power blazer, and we see her get color and structure as she gets more comfortable. At first, she just wants a seat at the table and as she sees her more natural ability as a producer, she takes it even farther with more angular lines, more masculine tones, more collars throughout the season. All of them use clothing to empower themselves and push the story.

W&H: How big is your department at “GLOW” and how do you source your fabrics?

BM: My team grows every season. It’s the typical set-up of myself, a costume designer, a supervisor, a key costumer, a shopper, and two entry-level production assistants. That’s the office crew, and then we have two cutter fitters. As is the case with all these shows that are big building shows and are made to order, we end up farming work out to tailor shops and local costume houses. We have three fitters. We fit every background head to toe prior to filming. We have three people doing that. We also have a relatively intimate set crew.

As for sourcing fabrics, it’s really a gamble. It’s hard to find 1980s original fabrics. Spandex by now has long lost its elasticity, so it doesn’t serve you. It’s such a different texture from 1980s fabric to modern fabric. We do a lot of mail-order fabrics from places in New York, like a spandex warehouse downtown. For our everyday, casual ready-to-wear, we go to Ragfinders of California, a wholesaler downtown, and ISW [International Silks & Woolens]. We also source a lot online from vintage dealers.

W&H: Do you get more freedom working on a Netflix show?

BM: What Jenji has been able to create in her Netflix shows is because Netflix really gives her the power to do so. Some shows I’m sending photos to 75 executives where they may not know about the story, which is fine. But it’s hard to express your design process and explain the reason you made choices over an email. That can water down a design. I think that’s why Netflix shows look so great, across the board. They trusted us to collaborate together and give them a beautiful product. That has been the ultimate for me.

W&H: “The Kominsky Method,” also on Netflix, must have been a very different experience, but an amazing one.

BM: I actually went from “GLOW” to that experience. I love [stars] Michael [Douglas] and Alan [Arkin]. They were the reason I wanted to do this show. They have such trust and professionalism. They don’t love a fitting. I get it — they’ve been doing this a long time. It was the first time that I felt as empowered to dress two very specific people. I had a short conversation with Michael about how I saw him, which was different to the original concept of his look, and he said, “I love it, put it in my room.”

I feel like I really anchored the look of that show. When your #1 and #2 trust you, that as a designer gives you the blessing of that show.

W&H: What other kinds of projects have you been working on?

BM: I just worked on “The Conners” because I had worked with Sara Gilbert on “Weird City.” Their costume designer who had worked on the original “Roseanne” wasn’t available, so I stepped in and was happy to.

That show was nostalgic for me and those shows are also great working-mother shows. I have two small children. As much as I would like to do a “GLOW”-level show year-round, the reality of my life is that doesn’t work for what I am trying to accomplish in my personal life. It’s really great when you can have a life-work balance along with these shows that are huge builds and designed from head to toe.

W&H: What kinds of projects do you gravitate towards?

BM: I had never done a multi-cam before. My goal was always to be able to do period dramas. I’ve really been able to find an amazing niche in my field of period comedies like “GLOW” and “American Princess,” which takes place at a Renaissance Faire. As a working mom, the hours working on dramas are insane.

Jerrod Carmichael hired me on his multi-cam show [“The Carmichael Show”] a few years ago when it was a pilot presentation. The experience introduced me to a different world where I could do something creatively fulfilling and be able to do drop-off and pick up my kids. I took that lead, and I’ve been able to do a little bit of this and a little bit of that and add it together for a great balance.