Playing Dress Up

You might never have heard Colleen Atwood's name, but you've almost certainly seen her work, which has adorned the bodies of the world's biggest stars, including Johnny Depp, Charlize Theron and Michelle Pfeiffer. The three-time Oscar-winning costume designer has worked on projects ranging from The Silence Of The Lambs and Edward Scissorhands to Dark Shadows and a selection of her pieces will be on display in ACMI's new exhibition of Hollywood costumes, opening on Wednesday 24 April. 

Now recognised as an undisputed design heavyweight, Atwood's path to renown has been far from straightforward. Over the phone from the US she tells the story of how, after dreaming of becoming a painter when she was a child, she had to put her love of art on hold when she fell pregnant at the age of 17. “I didn't finish school. I took care of my daughter and worked full-time, as a single mother.” Atwood's work in fashion retail led to a job as a consultant to buyers. “I learned a lot about clothing from doing that; how things fit, who bought what. Then once my daughter was finishing high school I moved to New York City. By then I had the dream of being part of the film industry, not knowing what my part would actually be. I started working in film and fell in love with it.”

Over 50 films later, Atwood has worked across many different genres, from the action-packed Mission Impossible 3 to musicals Sweeney Todd and Chicago, historical dramas like Little Women, sci-fi number Planet Of The Apes and dark fairytales such as Snow White And The Huntsman, Alice In Wonderland and Sleepy Hollow. Atwood is loathe to play favourites, but she says that researching and designing period Japanese-style outfits for Memoirs Of A Geisha, for which she won an Oscar, was particularly rewarding. “I loved the experience [because] I got to really explore another world that doesn't exist any more in the way that it did at the time.”

Apart from an enthusiasm for discovering different worlds through design, Atwood believes costume designers need to be great communicators, as they have to work with an enormous crew comprising actors, cutters, fitters and many more. Having a great rapport with a director also helps, of course; Atwood enjoys a creative partnership with idiosyncratic director Tim Burton. She says, “We work in a similar way; we don't have to talk about something for hours before we do it. I also think we do have a basic similar aesthetic, and that connects us on a work level as well.” 

Toiling away behind the scenes, costume designers aren't always at the forefront of the public imagination. But all that is changing thanks in part to 'making of' features on DVDs, and the rise of design blogs. “There is much more awareness of costume as a part of storytelling ... It has become much more in the foreground than it was ten years ago, for sure.”

WHAT: Hollywood Costume
WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday 24 April to Sunday 18 August, ACMI