Milena Canonero | Clothes on Film

Author Matt Zoller Seitz has published a continuation of his superb book The Wes Anderson Collection (2013), entitled (deep breath) The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel. The former is a detailed look at Anderson’s output so far, influences, meaning and interpretation of his work; the latter covers exclusively Anderson’s latest, The Grand Budapest Hotel. This is far more than a bolted on sequel, however, and one of the reasons we know this is because Clothes on Film editor Christopher Laverty was asked to contribute a chapter. More than that, it has recently joined The New York Times bestseller list. A pretty, candy-coloured slab of hardback, Seitz’s follow up…

A preview of Clothes on Film editor Christopher Laverty’s article on the vibrant costume design of Dick Tracy for Arts Illustrated magazine. Truly unique, Dick Tracy is as close to a comic strip brought to life as any film before or since. This was director and star Warren Beatty’s goal; not to interpret the comic, but to paint it directly onto a cinematic canvas. He achieved this by embracing the superficial qualities of the painted page, the bright colours, exaggerated structures, madcap caricatures, and placing them front and centre. Dick Tracy is an all knowing pantomime. The original Dick Tracy comic strip first published in the United States in 1931,…

SPOILERS From a costume point of view, and therefore a character point of view, The Grand Budapest Hotel (directed by Wes Anderson) is all about uniforms; those worn by men and women in official capacities and those adopted as a life uniform by those trapped in the past. Eccentric La Belle Époque hangover Madame D (Tilda Swinton) is the latter, Moustafa Zero (Tony Revolori), a newly appointed lobby boy in the pinnacle of majestic 1930s hotels, The Grand Budapest, is the former. While Madame D goes nowhere, perhaps because she has already been everywhere, Zero undertakes a journey and evolution of character, which subsequently means his clothing does too. In…

This week’s costume design news. Mad Men “She buys her clothes two sizes too small, more 50’s than 60’s.” – Janie Bryant knows her Joan. Yves Saint Laurent Costume designer Madeline Fontaine’s predictably difficult job costuming the immaculate biopic. …and sticking with Yves, HERE‘s Kate Muir’s article inspired by the film for The Times featuring Clothes on Film ed Christopher Laverty. Sunday in New York Another stunning analysis by Kay Noske, this time focusing on Jane Fonda’s enviable wardrobe as ’the only 22 year old virgin left in the world’. Hannibal Part 2 of Hello Tailor’s in-depth analysis. Even if you can’t be bothered to read the article (though you…

Costume’s big week. Every dress worn by Best Actress Academy Award Winners We featured this lovely infographic by Mediarun on our Facebook page. Roll on Sunday! Funny Face Good article on the classic film by Pamela Hutchinson, including a telling quote summing up just how little Audrey Hepburn really understood about costume design: “His (Givenchy) are the only clothes on which I am myself.” Bobi Garland Bobi Garland is Director of the Research Library and Costume Archive at Western Costume. You are about to find out why she is indispensible to the industry. Costume Designers Guild Awards Ladies and gentlemen, the winners. Toy Story An enthralling theory on the true…

Marina Roberti is the costume designer of the Italian box office hit Sole a Catinelle. She has worked in the US with the likes of Milena Canonero, Sandy Powell and Dante Ferretti… How did you become a costume designer? When I was a kid I was a bumbler at school. I spent all the time drawing and reading. My parents were kind of worried so they decided to enroll me at a fashion college in Turin, my home town. During my last school year they took us to Rome to visit the National Film School. Next year I decided to try and join the school. I thought I could never…