a CONVERSATION with the designer
What drew you to costume design?
1
I was always drawn to storytelling through visual language. I had a strong affinity towards films and movies growing up. As I started to learn more about the filmmaking process, I began to really find an interest in some of the world building departments in a production, which ultimately led me to discover costumes. I became very interested in the way clothing can communicate psychology, status, emotion, and transformation before a character ever speaks. Costume design felt like the perfect intersection of narrative, craft, history, and collaboration. What continues to fascinate me is that costumes are never isolated objects; they live on bodies, in movement, under light, through performance. They become part of the emotional architecture of a production.
How did your training shape your approach to design?
2
My classical training gave me a strong technical and historical foundation, but equally important was the experience of working under and alongside extraordinary designers with vastly different methods. Some designers approached design through construction and textile craft, others through conceptual image-making or instinctive sourcing, some where strictly logistics based and made decisions based making decisions first as project manager and then moving into an artistic space later in the process. Being exposed to those varied processes taught me flexibility and an understanding that every production requires its own methodology. It also taught me that research, craftsmanship, and collaboration are inseparable from strong storytelling.You can’t have one without the other.
How do you begin a new project?
3
The script comes first - that goes without saying; but from there, I always begin with research. Not just visual research, but cultural, psychological, historical, and emotional research. I do not going into mood boarding or sketch right away. I need to, for production’s sake and the sake of the story, understand the world the characters inhabit. I need to ask and answer questions such as how do they move through society, what influences them, what they aspire to, what do they hide?
You do this even for films set in the present?
4
Of course. Even contemporary projects require that level of investigation. I need to know what is important to this person, what type of clothing would they wear? Are brands and trends important to this person’s survival in their world? Where do they work? How much money and time would they be able to invest in themselves? In others? From there, I begin building visual language through conversations with directors and producers, mood boards, fabric research, sketching, and silhouette exploration. I try to absorb the atmosphere of a project before narrowing into specifics.