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The Star Online: Lifestyle: Arts & Fashion

Posted: 28 Feb 2013 01:52 AM PST

Costumes for Oz The Great And Powerful are created with each individual character in mind, regardless of whether they are main characters or extras.

FOR the movie Oz The Great And Powerful, nearly 2,000 outfits were created by costume designers Gary Jones and Michael Kutsche.

Working on all sorts of characters from witches to munchkins, the duo came up with looks for all the unique inhabitants of the Land of Oz.

Industry veteran Jones is not a stranger to the costume demands of big films. He reunited with director Sam Raimi for Oz, after having designed the wardrobe for Raimi's Spider-Man 2.

In addition to his continuing association with Raimi, Jones has collaborated with filmmakers such as Garry Marshall (Valentine's Day, The Princess Diaries), Brian De Palma (Dressed To Kill) and Sidney Lumet (Guilty As Sin, A Stranger Among Us).

Meanwhile, Kutsche is an award-winning German artist who works both in traditional and digital media. Kutsche's approach to imaginative character creation led him to Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland, his first movie experience; he has since designed characters for John Carter and Thor.

Kutsche tasked himself with reflecting the characters' environment in the costumes he designed for Oz.

He took inspiration from the sets designed by production designer Robert Stromberg. "I think that the most important thing for me was that the costumes weren't just floating over, but actually part of this world," commented Kutsche in the movie's production notes. "Robert's drawings and those from the art department really were a great starting point because they already had put some very distinct language into them."

Director Raimi discovered Kutsche's design skills while he was originating characters for the film. "Michael's drawings depicted characters in their costumes playing a moment from the picture, and they were fantastic," enthused Raimi. "Right off the bat, he had a vision for the picture that fit in with Robert's environment. Like Robert, he's a visionary and his characters really sprang to life out of those drawings."

Kutsche began his process by drawing "a couple of pages of little pencil sketches," reflecting how he perceived the character to look, given his or her environment, personality and social status. Once he had locked in the particular shape and design, Kutsche created an inked version of the sketch, which he scanned into his computer. Once it was living in his computer, Kutsche could colourise the sketch and create material and intricate costume detailing.

Jones and Kutsche had several discussions about the costume drawings and what materials the costumes could ultimately be made of. Kutsche had very clear ideas about how he wanted to portray the characters and what specificity there would be to their costumes.

It was up to Jones to flesh these ideas out literally and figuratively. About the process, Jones said: "In many cases, Michael's drawings did dictate what the feeling needed to be, but we had to go on a real search to find the right element and the way to do it. That was a great adventure.

"We eventually printed fabrics, beaded fabrics and manipulated fabrics to make it individual and different. Although many of the things are not literally different, they appear to be. So, that's kind of exciting," he explained.

Outfitting Oscar

Jones worked closely with Raimi and star James Franco to conceive the look of Oscar Diggs aka Oz. "In preparing Oz's clothes, Sam had a very clear idea what he wanted. I had met with James as well, and we were all heading in the same direction, which was terrific."

Jones' research for Franco's tailoring took him on a journey that had nostalgic meaning for the veteran costumer, who has a history with Ringling Bros. "Our story begins in a circus, which is the most period-accurate part of the film," the long-time designer said. "We researched everything from the largest circus to the poorest, most downtrodden carnival entertainers to the Dust Bowl. We covered the period between 1880 and 1930 in our research. Having worked with the Ringling Bros circus was an added joy because I loved that experience. So, to have another moment with a circus was really terrific for me."

With inspiration and some vintage photos in hand, Jones met Franco in a SoHo coffee shop in New York, where he shared the photos he had brought from the turn of the century. Some were of Alexander Graham Bell and the Wright Brothers.

"Those were things that we started with and that's how we got to Oz's final wardrobe design – a black cutaway suit from the turn of the century, which I am very proud to have designed," said Jones.

Commenting on his costume, Franco said: "I only have one look in this film, a three-piece suit that Oz wears in Kansas. I think it's safe to say that that was my favourite outfit in the film. Knowing that people dressed really well in the old days, I enjoyed wearing that three-piece suit quite a bit."

The witches' wardrobes

There are three very distinct witches in the film – Evanora, Theodora and Glinda – who had to be costumed to reflect not only their personalities but their surroundings as well.

In creating the look of the sisters Evanora and Theodora, Kutsche explained: "For Evanora, the ruler of Emerald City, the starting point was looking at the architecture of the city. I really wanted her to not just be some person in this place, but to actually be this place.

"The shape and colour of her wardrobe reflect the feel of Emerald City, which was Art Deco inspired. So I could make her more of a mighty being that stands out against all the other citizens, and the other witches as well."

Commenting on the costume for her character Evanora, Rachel Weisz said: "I wear a green dress pretty much all the time. It is slightly militaristic, because I'm sort of the military leader of Emerald City as well."

Once Kutsche had sculpted the characters' looks in a two-dimensional sketch, Jones began his process of bringing the illustrations to life with the chosen fabrics. "With Evanora, we took a little detour towards the Duchess of Windsor for a moment, and then came back to Michael's drawings because of the iconic silhouette that you need to balance the sets and scenery."

In defining the pair of opposing enchantresses (Evanora and Glinda) through wardrobe design, Jones described his approach: "The witches are very clearly light and dark to contrast good and evil. We used a mercury green colour, all having to do with Robert's Emerald City design, to portray Evanora. Glinda, of course, is basically a white, pristine kind of girl in the story, and we created three different white gowns for Michelle Williams' character."

Speaking of whom, Williams liked the transitions that Glinda's costuming took during the course of the story. "When we first meet Glinda, she's more demure, cloaked in these very delicate fabrics. Then, as the battle dawns, she has a wardrobe change and appropriately suits up in something that is tougher, like fairy-princess armour."

When we first meet Evanora's little sister, the vulnerable Theodora, she is wearing a Victorian-styled riding outfit, with a large-brimmed red velvet hat.

"Theodora has three costume changes," Jones stated. "In my opinion, (the first one is) a beautiful costume, structured with a hint of contemporary pizzazz. A big, handsome velvet riding hat, a red coat, black riding breeches and a white blouse. All very beautiful with a sense of the pastoral fun of the 18th century one might find in a Fragonard painting."

"It's in a fantasy world while still being a period piece in a way," Kutsche offered. "So, I looked at fashion around 1900 when they had some pretty crazy hats. Theodora's look is almost like a patchwork of different periods that makes it look like no distinct period. And that's what I guess gives it this slightly fantastical feel."

In comparing Evanora and Theodora, Jones stated that "one of the first times that the characters appeared together, you realise that they do have similarities in the cut of their clothes, but not at all in the feeling of the clothes. They're two completely different worlds. Mila's Theodora is a little more on the sporty, physical side, while Rachel's costumes for Evanora are a little more of a reigning empress."

Diverse inhabitants

In addition to the principal cast, Jones and his staff of 60 costumers, seamstresses, textile artists, dyers and agers also created the clothes for all the inhabitants of Oz, such as the Quadlings, Munchkins, Tinkers, Emerald City citizens and Winkies.

In devising how to best reflect these assorted Ozians (most of whom were extras with no dialogue), Jones chose to characterise the mood of these divergent groups through their clothing.

Before putting thread to needle or dye to fabric, Jones and his key collaborators (assistant designers Jessica Peel-Scott and Gali Noy and wardrobe supervisor John Casey) spent hours researching fashion trends from various periods.

"While our research was concentrated on the turn of the 20th century," Jones related, "our costume designs came from both that historical point of view while reflecting a more contemporary style, a fashion point of view having to do with what our eye sees today, in 2013, as fashionable and attractive."

In Glinda's world, that of the Quadlings and Munchkins, these are the happy people of Oz. "They're butchers, bakers, and the like, who toil in the normal ways of life. A rather happy, simple group of folks, who we defined with bright colours and pretty clothes. To contrast that, in Emerald City, we're faced with people who are doing work under duress, under the thumb of the wicked Evanora."

"Therefore a little more repressed, more buttoned up," he continued. "So, we made their clothes in strong, jewel-tone colours (rich reds and greens and blues) but in a very formal and stylised way. Of course, with a little hint of extra green because of Emerald City. And the more ominous blacks and greys as well to portray that repressed mood. They have some of the same shapes that the people who live in Glinda's world do, but they're more conservative in every way. The people who live in Glinda's world are all in pale pastels, earth tones, cream colours. Even their shoes and hats."

As for the Winkies, "They are the guards at the palace in Emerald City," Jones described. "Their military-styled costumes were inspired by Russian and Prussian uniforms."

At the end of the day, when audiences watch Oz, they may not notice the smallest costuming details. But they may feel that the Land of Oz is a living, breathing place that – as fantastical as it seems – does exist. And Jones and Kutsche's costumes play a great part in delivering that feeling.

Oz The Great And Powerful opens in Malaysian cinemas on March 7. Tomorrow Star2 takes a closer look at the witches of Oz.

Eventful drama from Milan Fashion Week

Posted: 27 Feb 2013 08:14 PM PST

From Bond girls to Mohicans and a Janet Jackson frenzy, Milan Fashion Week proved to be eventful.

MOHICANS strutted down the Fendi catwalk at Italy's fashion week recently, in a visually provocative show set to The Prodigy's Fire Starter which left the snowy world of Milan far behind.

Fendi's models emerged from behind a giant door which swung down at the start, kicking off a spectacle which payed homage to furs and feathers.

Their hair done in French plaits, each sported a Mohican hairband in shades of electric blues and oranges – which matched the fluffy, fur-lined arms on their sunglasses, colourful fur cuff bands on wrists and soft, shaggy bags.

Black and white dominated the autumn-winter 2013 collection – from short snakeskin jackets to loose white trousers and skirts worn to the knee.

The two- or three-tone outfits – such as dresses made of leather on one side and wool on the other, or tight dress silhouettes softened with a cape – came out in blocks of colours, predominately shocking pinks and rich wine purples.

Fendi director Karl Lagerfeld's collection, which he baptised Icons Unchained, gave a fresh spin to the house's previous feathered creations – though a black and blue skirt did bring to mind Sesame Street's Cookie Monster.

Shoes were black high-heeled booties and lace-ups trimmed with white fur.

The German-born Lagerfeld, 79, who has his own fashion label and is also the creative director at Chanel, emerged after the show in his trademark sunglasses, ponytail hair and black leather gloves to a standing ovation.

Founded in 1925 in Rome, Fendi is now owned by French luxury giant LVMH.

Dominatrix punk

Italian fashion icon Donatella Versace brought her own spin to punk, unveiling a collection dominated by fierce outfits in shiny black, white, or lipstick red vinyls and deadly accessories.

"I started thinking, what would we call the new punk today? This collection is my answer. It is sexy, strong, brave and full of energy," she said.

The autumn/winter 2013 collection, dubbed VUNK by the label (Versace punk), opened with a black vinyl corset swimsuit, fastened with a white fur clasp at the neck, and worn under an open, oversized coat with towering heels.

Punk met dominatrix as brightly coloured monotone outfits in shiny vinyl, often slit open across the upper chest, stormed down the stark white catwalk.

Men, be warned. The new Versace woman is not to be crossed: long and very sharp-looking silver or diamante spikes graced most outfits, worn as chokers or clasps, while extra large nails were used as earrings or ornaments on dresses.

The silver adornments so loved by Donatella, the sister of the late fashion legend Gianni Versace, also graced shoulder bags, while boots were studded.

It was not all about the vinyl: there were fur coats and small jackets in bumble-bee yellows and blacks, and the label said new interpretations of animal prints had been developed for Versace by American artists The Haas Brothers.

There were also tartan kilts in black and white, worn with thigh-high boots.

But it was hard to get away from it. Even black woollen coats had vinyl lapels, and an evening dress featuring a spider web motif, a recurring trend this season in Milan, had panels of vinyl inserted down the front and back.

Perhaps the most eye-catching creation was a fetish-inspired silver harness, which stretched – spikes and all – from a choker at the neck down to the waist, with two belts running across chest and midriff, worn over punk T-shirts.

Play on skiwear

Etro was well prepared for the snow blanketing Milan, unveiling a collection which gave a twist to skiwear, reworking the brand's traditional prints for modernist creations.

Designer Veronica Etro said her autumn/winter 2013 collection aimed to create "a decorative yet strong vision of femininity, where a powerful woman freely travels and customises, creating her own sense of history and identity."

Wherever the Etro woman is going, it is cold: necklines are high, sweaters are woollen polo necks, and jackets are oversized and seem to have been plucked straight from the ski slopes, before being jazzed up in satin or with prints.

Coats and trousers were padded, and shoulders on shirts were enhanced.

Some creations were strictly to be worn indoors, maybe at apres ski parties.

Clinging, sensual dresses in splashes of grape, cranberry and coral had sections cut away at the hips, side or back, or were open along the collarbone.

A luxurious camel coat with a black fur collar was surprisingly sleeveless.

For daytime, check or paisley jackets in autumn greens, oranges and browns were paired with black trousers, while short, black woollen jackets with leather arms were matched with red leather trousers with geometrical inserts.

For the evening, dresses and jumpers starring constellations and web-like motifs made of micro bead embroideries stood out, as did a yellow and black striped dress which clung to the wearer and drew many ahhhs from the audience.

Large zips in gold or silver were on show – also trend in Milan this season.

Spies like us

Prada transformed 1950s American housewives into would-be Bond girls, with a lethally seductive look which gave a powerful twist to the classic hourglass dress.

Checkered dresses in red and white or baby blue were the collection's mainstay, pulled in at the waist by wide or slim gold or silver belts, but slit open at the bodice's neckline, as if ripped by an amorous James Bond.

Sleeves to just below the elbow ended in large fur cuffs and every hemline on the catwalk was asymmetrical, sweeping around the body to show bare calves.

Daywear merged with night-time glamour, with exquisitely embroidered and glittering panels inserted into brown, grey or checkered hourglass dresses.

As well as little black numbers, there were dresses with vertical stripes in red and green and parcels of colour, such as wide red or blue skirt hems.

A brown fur jacket was paired with a red leather skirt and flat black shoes.

The setting was theatrical: The autumn-winter 2013 collection by the Milanese company, which started out in 1913 as a luggage maker for Italy's kings, was held in a transformed former warehouse at Prada headquarters.

Video images projected onto the walls alongside the runway showed a mysterious woman, in silhouette, who lingered at the doorway of her house, running her hands through her hair and looking wistfully out down the road.

What she was planning to do if Bond did show is anyone's guess: but there was a hint in some of Prada's more revealing creations, such as a brown see-through number worn over black pants with a golden zip down to the crotch.

Causing a riot

American star Janet Jackson's front row appearance at the Roberto Cavalli show threw photographers into such a frenzy that they had to be physically hauled off the catwalk.

Whistles and cat calls filled the air and the audience was roused for drama, which the Florentine luxury house conjured up with an autumn-winter 2013 collection mixing war apparel with a homage to Renaissance art.

Nearly every item was embellished with studs or delicate chains to create an armour effect and miniskirts were pleated, echoing Roman Centurion kilts.

Black and silver tuxedos, slim trousers and tweed tops gave way to oversized fur coats, jackets and suits in bold splashes of colour – violets, burgundies, blues and yellows – evoking the messy rainbows on painters' pallets.

Intricate flower prints covered trousers and satin shirts, and Cavalli's models wore large earrings, necklaces and brooches featuring snakes and eagles.

On top of the military look, the brand unveiled a series of 1920s-style low-waisted sleeveless dresses, jazzed up with sparkling beads for the evening. –AFP

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Khamis, 28 Februari 2013