FGI Regional Director, Staci Riordan
Designers Michele Bernard & Mona Thalheimer
February 24, 2010 – FGILA hosted a private tour and interpretative presentation of FIDM Museum & Gallery’s 2010 “Art of Motion Picture Costume Design” display. The event allowed FGILA members and their guests to go behind the scenes of motion picture costume design and view the Oscar nominated costumes up close. Over 125 costumes were on display from 25 movies, including Julie and Julia, The Young Victoria, Sherlock Holmes, Public Enemies, Inglorius Basterds, Broken Embraces, Coraline, Nine, and Where the Wild Things Are.
For eighteen years, the FIDM Museum and Galleries has honored the incredible work of costume designers in the film industry through this ground-breaking exhibition. Among our favorite displays where:
Amelia Earheart – Amelia Earheart was portrayed twice in the exhibit, once for the movie Amelia and again for Night at the Museum. Amelia created fashion history by wearing pants in the 1930′s – an uncommon (and somewhat socially scathing) practice among women of that time. She was easily identified for her signature look – a leather bomber jacket and aviator sunglasses – a look that continues to influence designers today.
Nine – Nine has been nominated for an Academy Award this year. Exhibit curator, Kevin Jones, spoke about the particular difficulty of costume design for this particular movie. With such a star-studded cast, the designers had to be especially diplomatic, making sure that each star’s costume was as “special” as the other’s. Quite a feat when you are dealing with such super-power personalities! Nine costume designer, Colleen Atwood also did a phenomenal job of creating equally fabulous “Old Hollywood meets Vegas” looks for this film’s muses, as she did for her Oscar-winning designs in the movie, Chicago.
Coraline & Where the Wild Things Are – Who thinks about costumes for animated movie stars? Well, one of the goals of this exhibit was to show just how important that is. In both of these movies, the costumes were designed digitally with computer graphics and then fabricated. For Where the Wild Things Are they were enormous, while Coraline’s exhibit displayed hand-loomed sweaters, accessories, and gowns that would fit a tiny doll!
Won Kim & Jeffrey Relf
For those who could not attend last night’s event, the exhibit will run through April 17, 2010. Tours are offered Monday through Friday and proceeds do the the Costume Acquisition Fund.
Stacy Aldrich, Won Kim, Staci Riordan
