CDG - The Costume Designer

Mo jobs q co u s h gr r n , b Kym B• • ' s w- k ‚ t„ n… ds a baˆ flip, Ž Ž ' aults, ' a f" sp" n kiˆ s be– e race e— n • ts. Mo jobs q co u s h gr r n , b Kym B• • ' s w- k ‚ t„ n… ds a baˆ flip, Mo jobs q co u s h gr r n , b Kym B• • ' s w- k ‚ t„ n… ds a baˆ flip, Mo jobs q co u s h gr Ž Ž ' aults, ' a f" sp" n kiˆ s be– e r n , b Kym B• • ' s w- k ‚ t„ n… ds a baˆ flip, Ž Ž ' aults, ' a f" sp" n kiˆ s be– e r n , b Kym B• • ' s w- k ‚ t„ n… ds a baˆ flip, race e— n • ts. Ž Ž ' aults, ' a f" sp" n kiˆ s be– e race e— n • ts. Ž Ž ' aults, ' a f" sp" n kiˆ s be– e Simu Liu Barrett mints icons like Apple cranks out iPhones. She hit the scene with the shockingly modern Shakespeare adaptation, Romeo Juliet, and has not stopped sprinting since. In The Matrix series, she reimagined the superhero as an antihero with the unforgettable sweep of a black, oor-length coat and impenetrable mir- rored sunglasses. She summoned terror in eerie orange jumpsuits for s and took comic book characters from page to production in The Amazing Spider-Man and Aquaman. ow the highly anticipated Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the next step in a career that is already action packed. Superhero studio fi lms are in a shared universe and that requires paying attention to the broader proper- ty. That's particularly the case with Shang-Chi, which expands the existing universe with spectacular ac- tion. "When you work at Marvel, they have illustrators join design team meetings. They incorporate specifi c parameters that blend into the Marvel Cinematic ni- verse, so when their superheroes cross paths, they are cohesive." Despite that wider attention, each project is unique. Shang-Chi will feature a predominantly Asian cast, breaking new ground for Marvel. Because the fi lm is live action, the costumes are both dramatic and functional. Barrett fi nds that even though the looks are eye-catch- ing, the secrets of making them work are subtle. "It's the things you don't see that are the biggest challenges," she explains. For Barrett that meant marrying histori- cal and cultural references. Integrating her research increased the accuracy of the project, but also surprisingly the functionality of the costumes. "In Shang- Chi I took cues from the cut and style of the oldest leather robe found in an archeological ex- cavation," Barrett says. The result is a costume that is practical but, "When you see the performers fi ghting, you can tell that function came fi rst. All of those ancient battle clothes evolved from trial and error. I adapted them for wire and acro- batic work." Barrett's design philosophy is rooted in practical con- siderations, especially on projects that push the cast's physical limits. "ou have to keep people comfortable," she asserts. "Once they've gotten used to their costume and they're confi dent, then they can try out new things and crazier stunts. That's where the real satisfaction comes in." Barrett fi nds this approach so successful that it in uences her work on other types of projects. Con- sider the strange and sinister world her design helped to create on s and From Hell in which characters strug- gle to come to grips with horrifi c, psychological reali- ties. "ou give actors costume tools that allow freedom. I want the costume to disappear so they don't focus on how tight it is or heels that are too high." Working in the martial arts genre means wear and tear on costumes. That issue is compounded when the pro- duction takes such pains to get every shot just right. "We had a lot of multiples, but mostly because each character is showcasing diff erent types of Kung Fu," Barrett explains. "A lot of the action is very acrobatic, so characters often had an actor, a stunt double, a Kung Fu double, and an acrobatic double. Often someone would come in for one sequence because they happen to be the best in the world at that particular stunt. We had one outfi t for the beginning of the day, one for after lunch, one for an emergency, and we had backups for big falls, slides along the oor, or whatever spec- tacle was on for the day." Bold colors are a staple of superhero genre, but on a project that is rooted in Kung-Fu that means basing the costumes in their cultural context. "For Shang-Chi Simu Liu, my color palette is primary. We use red and yellow for all their symbolic power. For part of the fi lm, we're in a world slightly removed from ours, a world that relies on some very strong, traditional Chinese tenetsthe elements, yin and yang, and chakras.

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