CDG - The Costume Designer

14 THE COSTUME DESIGNER | FALL 2021 C l Kids Soyon An Julie and the Phantoms Fashion was extremely important on Julie and the Phan- toms. I created trend boards and gave presentations that forecasted how I believed the nineties trends would reso- nate strongly in 2020 and 2021. Kids are so tuned in these days, with platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Pinter- est, that dressing characters for an audience with sophisti- cated sensibilities has to be considered. Graphic tees are a staple to our everyday look. I like to in- corporate them to make the scene realistic. The biggest challenge when using graphic tees is the clearance pro- cess. I start sending images as soon as I like something, even before fi ttings. This way I know what can and can't be used in the show. Sometimes I have to fi t multiple looks because the clearance timeline and fi tting timeline don't always line up. Often, I have to come up with my own de- signs. Because this falls into the art department's territory, there is a lot of collaboration between the art director and myself. This is cool because we come up with custom de- signed t-shirts. The show has a boy band called Sunset Curve, and a girl group called Dirty Candi. There's the fash- ionista, the athlete, the mean girl, and our lead Julie, a misfi t who walks to the beat of her own drum. Being a mom of all boys, dressing this cast, both male and female, felt like I was dressing my own kids with their own individual personalities. It was playing dress up to the extreme, because there were so many diff erent characters. They had to be fun, youthful, and time- less. Creating the styles for each of them was incredible. because the clearance timeline and fi tting timeline don't because the clearance timeline and fi tting timeline don't always line up. Often, I have to come up with my own de- always line up. Often, I have to come up with my own de- signs. Because this falls into the art department's territory, signs. Because this falls into the art department's territory, signs. Because this falls into the art department's territory, signs. Because this falls into the art department's territory, signs. Because this falls into the art department's territory, signs. Because this falls into the art department's territory, there is a lot of collaboration between the art director and there is a lot of collaboration between the art director and there is a lot of collaboration between the art director and myself. This is cool because we come up with custom de- myself. This is cool because we come up with custom de- myself. This is cool because we come up with custom de- The show has a boy band called Sunset Curve, and a girl group called Dirty Candi. There's the fash- ionista, the athlete, the mean girl, and our lead Julie, a misfi t who walks to the beat of her own drum. Being a mom of all boys, dressing this cast, both male and female, felt like I was dressing my own kids with their own individual personalities. It was playing dress up to the extreme, because there were so many diff erent characters. They had to be fun, youthful, and time- less. Creating the styles for each of Madison Reyes and Charlie Gillespie Photo: Julie and the Phantoms, et ix

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