Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1010567
40 The Costume Designer Summer 2018 Ocean's 8 was shooting as the #MeToo movement exploded, and Edwards describes how wonderful it is for the film to be appreciated "in that light. It's really being embraced by everyone for these strong female characters, and the fact that it's an all-female cast." Coming into the project with a very short prep, Edwards zeroed in on who each of her characters was in order to give each a strong identity visually. She worked closely with her director and actors to gain their takes on their characters, did lots of photographic research, distilled it all down, and then developed mood boards which they followed closely. Silhouette was an important part of her process. For Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock), the mastermind and sister of the Danny Ocean character from the Ocean's movies, Edwards pulled a little bit from his look, and kept her simple, streamlined, and sleek. Cate Blanchett, as a rock-and-roll nightclub owner with an inter- esting past, wore costumes inspired by iconic people in the music industry. "I had a fantastic picture of Keith Richards Sarah Edwards Ocean's 8/Warner Bros. in a three-piece suit when he was very young, and we loved that suit and thought, why don't we just make these suits?" Edwards looked at pictures of Bob Marley from the '70s for Rihanna, playing a Caribbean computer hacker and dressed her in a combination of Army, Navy, and vintage finds. "Each one of them has her own backstory that I tried really hard to bring out in the way they were dressed." For example, they chose a special Zodiac necklace that Debbie wears through- out, which Bullock pushed hard to get into the story as a piece with special meaning to her character. Edwards notes that the women start strong and stay strong in Ocean's 8. "You really get a sense of how each one of them is integral to the operation, and all of their strengths and abilities come out throughout the heist. What I do love about their costumes is that they are all individuals. None of them is dressed in a way that is a kind of trendy, of-the- moment thing. They really are their own people. They are not followers, any of these women." Photos: Ocean's 8, Warner Bros.