34
THE COSTUME DESIGNER
|
SUMMER 2021
MEAESEES
Created by Oleksandr Panasovskyi
from the Noun Projec t
C
ebr
"G
os
be
co
u
i
su
a
p
-
mo•
t
my
Life.
"
Photo:
n
he
ehts
Wrner
ros
ntertnment
y onnie Nipar
When Mitchell Travers heard the fi lm adaption of inManuel
Miranda's four Tony Awards winner
In the eights would be
directed by on M. Chu Crazy
ich Asians, he knew the fi lm
was going to be extraordinary and he was determined to fi nd
a way onto that project. "I wanted so badly to be around it
and experience it, I think I would have been happy to just pull
sneakers and put them in the fi tting rooms," he laughs. "et
ting chosen to be the costume designer is still such a pinch
me moment in my life."
Travers turned to the soundtrack for inspiration to create a
vibrant world bursting with color, pattern, and texture. e
focused on the staccato rhythm that comes from Miranda's
style the spoken word layered atop a variety of musical in
uences. "It was in the clash between those two things that
I started to interpret my designs using opposing combina
tions. I wanted it to feel like two extremes coming together to
create something new." Mixing camou age and tiedye, hot
pinks with teals, or multiple scales of leopard on leopard,
Travers elicits an energized vibe. "I tried to mimic the rhythms
of the music in the costumes to visually support the story."
Anthony
Ramos
(Usnavi
de
la
Vega)
and
Melissa
Barrera
(Vanessa)
In
the
Heights
