Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538245
Papa Museum in Wellington, New Zealand. We touched the actual 'ahu'ula (capes) and kapa that were collected by Captain James Cook himself (with gloves on of course)! I'm taken aback now just remembering how special that was. The museum curators were impressed with the materials we were using and how similar our cape sample looked to an authentic historical cape. High fives all around! Once we had an idea of the overall story of the show and the history of the islands, we needed to figure out how to tell that story through the garments. Designer Caroline Eselin and ACD Marina Reti went on a research trip to Hawai'i and returned with a sample of actual kapa cloth, a fabric made by the Native Hawaiians from pounded mulberry bark. When I first felt this cloth, I thought, "It feels like Tyvek without the plastic coating." "From the first moment of meeting our advisors, I felt something special. Just the way they talked and the reverence they showed for their ancestors gave me goose bumps." —HEATHER VANDERGRIFF MOTIONPICTUREC O S T U M E R S .O R G 25 Trailer Costumer Anna Tibboel brushing out the capes. Below: L.A. crew.