We think of clothes as representations of our personalities—we pick and choose and mix and match, allowing our style to reflect who we are. We are what we wear, or so the saying goes. Conservative, edgy, complicated, simple—these are all terms we use to describe both person and fashion. So when it comes to the art of costume design, it’s about more than just creating great pieces. It’s about defining a personality through those pieces.
The costume designer plays an essential role in the creation of a character. And for characters that blur the boundaries of personality—both good and evil, both conformed and individual—costume design can be a challenging art form.
I’ll admit it—I’m a bit of a Broadway junkie. When I was a freshman in college, I took a musical theater course and convinced my dad it was a “class assignment” that I see a Broadway show. He took me to the touring production of Wicked in Cleveland, Ohio, and I had the emerald city in my eyes for weeks. So you can imagine my excitement to hear that Wicked’s costume designer, Susan Hilferty, will be joining the incredible Fashion U lineup!
The show is wonderful—hilarious and heartbreaking; a love story, a political commentary, a classic tale revived. Wicked is quite the spectacle, costing over 14 million dollars in settings and costumes and requiring 75 backstage workers. For the production, Hilferty, created more than 200 ensembles, and double that in shoes and hats. They are each individually tailored to the actor, detail-oriented, and utterly fantastic!
HIlferty’s inspiration came from the 1920 Edwardian era when L. Frank Baum first wrote The Wizard of Oz. But for individual characters, she focused on the personality she needed to convey. For instance, for Glinda, Hilferty surveyed young children on what goodness looks like. Their responses led to Glinda being draped in princess-like attire, with a sunshine-ray-inspired tiara and scepter.
For Hilferty, who has designed for over 300 productions and who also chairs the Department of Design for Stage and Film at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, costuming is quite literally an other-worldly career in fashion. She creates characterizations and collaborates on stage aesthetics. Her designs evolve over the course of the show to display character evolvement. Her designs also must be of durable and flexible quality to handle daily stage performances which involve dancing, quick-changing, and lots and lots of sweating! As an educator, a Broadway legendary, and the only Fashion U speaker to specialize in costume design, this is a can’t-miss-seminar for anyone interested in designing or styling for stage, film, or television.
Here are a few of my favorite looks from the show, and a peek at how design drawings become costume realities!
Tags: Brittany, costume design, Fashion U, Susan Hilferty, Wicked
