Crafting a “Film For The Ages” With Wicked’s Costume Designer
Hundreds of hours of couture-level craftsmanship lie behind Paul Tazewell’s designs. Here, he gives Liberty a taste of the magic
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Crafting a “Film For The Ages” With Wicked’s Costume Designer
Hundreds of hours of couture-level craftsmanship lie behind Paul Tazewell’s designs. Here, he gives Liberty a taste of the magic
Wicked costume designer Paul Tazewell with his creations in the Liberty Atrium
Outside of Wicked’s fantastical world: Paul Tazewell might be the closest we get to a real-life magician. The legendary costume designer, who crafted the looks for Universal Pictures’ new film, has created a timeless world of designs that give a vibrant allure to Oz: they’re captivating, enchanting and, both on-screen and in real life, utterly jaw-dropping.
His list of credits comprises some of the most iconic cinematic and musical costuming of recent times. From Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, to In the Heights, Harriet, the original Broadway production of Hamilton and The Colour Purple. A Tony and Emmy award-winner and Oscar-nominee: Tazewell is the best of the best, and you can see that in every inch of Wicked’s scintillating costumes.
To celebrate Wicked’s cinematic release on 22nd November, Tazewell brought two key costumes from the film to Liberty’s Central Atrium, to talk us through each creation. First, Glinda’s “Bubble Dress,” a dizzying confection in iridescent pink: layers upon layers of tulle build into bubble-like effervescence for Glinda’s entrance in the film.
Second, Elphaba’s Emerald City outfit – worn for the film’s iconic song: Defying Gravity. This enticing, textural creation almost has a life of its own: the more you look, the more exquisite detail you see. The micro-pleating – all of which was done by hand – cascades across the dress with an organic sense of movement, a subtle, purple iridescence sits behind the black, creating an oh-so-subtle harmony with Glinda’s glow, and hints of sheerness dot the look – allowing for Elphaba’s green skin to shine through.
Each is truly a work of art, requiring over 200 hours of work to create, and this attention to detail is something that runs through every costume Tazewell and his team made for the film. From the principle actors to the background crowd artists, focusing on a individual detailing to bring the world of Oz to life in dazzling complexity.
It is this spirit of rigorous craftsmanship that binds Wicked and Liberty together, and lies behind the Christmas collaboration which has transformed Liberty's London store into the land of Oz. Liberty sat down with Tazewell to discuss this shared passion, and to find out more about his creative process.
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How did you first become interested in costume design, specifically on screen?
I started loving costumes when I was very young. I grew up drawing and painting and dressing up, probably from when I was four years old. When I got into high school, I was so drawn to both costumes and performance. I wanted to be a singer, dancer and an actor and that all merged when I was in college and I made the choice to become a costume designer by profession, and the rest is history!
What is the typical process when it comes to developing costume designs for a production?
When I'm working on the designs for a film or a live theatre production, I start with the text. I read it multiple times and I meet with the director to understand what their point of view might be and how they want to tell the story.
From there, I'm tapping into how I view the characters and what the emotional arcs are. At that stage I’ll also be acknowledging, if it's a historic or period piece or if, like Wicked, it's a fantasy. I research in great depth: working to define what the world might be, whether it's a specific period or it's a fantasy.
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With Wicked, where did you begin when it came to crafting the key looks for Elphaba and Glinda?
With Elphaba’s costumes I wanted to make sure that we were acknowledging her connection to animals. In her storyline, she's an advocate for animals and that led me to the world of nature, which became a huge inspiration for the film overall.
Nature is timeless, and we – the director John Chu, myself and the rest of the creatives – wanted to create a film that would last for the ages. So nature, because of its timelessness, is appropriate.
As I was interpreting this idea, I was looking at lots of textures: from bark on trees to the underside of mushrooms and incorporating that kind of texture and that kind of colour palette into Elphaba’s clothing. It was very important to how I wanted to see Elphaba.
With Glinda’s pink "Bubble Dress" and, in fact, throughout all of her costumes, the inspiration is to capture the effervescence, elegance and the sparkle that you find on a bubble. I knew that it was that type of iridescence that I was actually going after.
The pink was directly informed by the iconic Glinda the Good, from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, played by Billie Burke. I wanted to use that shade of pink and run it through her whole colour story, with all of her costumes. But this bubble dress, this pink, I think that it hopefully will become its own icon, as Ariana Grande fills the character of Glinda.
How long did it take to craft these two looks?
For Elphaba’s dress for The Emerald City, what she wears when she hops on the train to meet the wizard for the first time, it took about 225 hours of work from a team of five. It was very intensive labour: couching all the micro-pleating down to a base, it has a layer of lace and then under that, there is a purple taffeta that creates an iridescent quality. There were a lot of hands that go into creating this dress!
How do you work collaboratively with the cast and crew to bring the costumes to life?
The wonderful thing about the process of creating Wicked was the collaborative spirit overall that was set up by John Chu, the director. It was imperative for all of us to work together and to continuously be checking in.
As Francis Hannon, the makeup artist, was working on the green that was going to be used for Elphaba’s skin tone, I was looking at what blacks and other fabrics would look like with the colour of green that she was using.
It was very important, and reflective of how Cynthia Erivo played Elphaba, that we see her skin coming through the sheerness of the fabric. In some of her blouses you can see her skin peeking through, and it set up an emotional quality where you realise that Elphaba isn't ashamed of herself.
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What were some of the challenges of working on a production of this scale?
What I love about designing for film is the size and scope. With our Wicked, it's a 360 view of what the Wicked world is. It was important for John Chu that we create a brand new point of view on Oz.
In designing costumes for the film, I'm always thinking about the overall environment. We have these huge sets, and with these huge sets, we have lots of crowds and lots of people. With each person, there is an individual look. That's a theme that is very important and runs throughout the film: individuality. You see that with all of the Shiz University students, with how they individualise their uniforms. That makes for a modern viewpoint, it's not futuristic, but it sets the tone for self realisation.
Do you have any favourite costumes or details within the costumes?
I would say that detail is capital in these designs. It informs so much of the world of Oz. I was very focused on having specific details that you saw even in cracks and crevices. I wanted it to really spring off the screen and create a world that felt real within itself.
I was almost creating rules, fashion rules, for the worlds of Oz and all that needed to work together: from Munchkinland to Emerald City to the Uplands, where Glinda and her family are from. Down to the buttons and pins and jewellery, everything needed to be reflective of this created and crafted world of Oz.
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How many people were involved in the creation of the costumes?
I had a wonderful team working with me. There were three major costume assistants, two that mostly worked on principles and day players, and one overseeing the design of the crowds. They worked tirelessly, and I was giving them directives as we were working through, and they would assist me with choosing fabrics and trims and making sure that everything was accounted for because everything was custom made. When you're creating a world that doesn't exist, you can't run out to the store! You're creating everything from scratch.
I have the great joy of working with some amazing tailors, dressmakers and milliners. The tailors we worked with are at a couturier level. Overall, there were around 70 makers including our tailors, hand and machine embroiderers, milliners, shoemakers, cobblers and even weavers! It was such a joy to be able to take advantage of all of these craftspeople in making the costumes for Wicked.
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What Wicked themed trends do you think we might see making their way into the real world?
Well, I already have seen lots of pink and green out on the street when people are waiting to see the film! It's really exciting to see how the world of Wicked has been embraced and the joy that it is bringing to so many people. I think a little bit of sparkle, especially if it's pink or iridescent, is always going to be indicative of Glinda. Textured black will give you vibes of Elphaba. It's really exciting to see how creative people can be with their clothing out on the street.
Discover the magical collaboration in store at Liberty, and see Wicked only in cinemas from 22nd November.
