Los Angeles Times: How do you know how to dress someone when that person technically doesn’t exist? This inane yet genuine question burned in my mind when I sat down to interview Natasha Newman-Thomas, an award-winning costume designer. Newman-Thomas is the sartorial mastermind behind TV shows including HBO’s “The Idol” and Childish Gambino’s iconic “This Is America” music video (which garnered her a Costume Designers Guild award).
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The quote that stood out the most for me was “you have to believe in an illusion in order to make it a believable reality.” That might be the most succinct how-to-design book that I have ever seen. So much of the entertainment industry is convincing people, for some amount of time, that something that isn’t true is true, but if you don’t believe something is plausible in the first place, how can you convince others? It was also fascinating to hear how her design process often includes conversations with the actors to get their perspective on the character. In the end, both the designer and the actor are trying to imagine the world through the character’s eyes, and the more cohesive those imaginings are, the more believable it will be. Additionally, I loved hearing how she likes to start music video costume designs with what’s not cool and go from there, trying to figure out how she could fit that within the project and make it look cool.
Theatre is all about believing in the make believe, and playing into the idea of exploring imaginations and scenarios. This article explores the ideas of the costume designer, Natasha Newman-Thomas. Despite her enriched education and knowledge on costume design and her technical proficiency for clothing and fashion, Newman-Thomas also explores the idea of make believe and pushes the boundaries of her own creative ability and imagination. As a first year design student, reading this article really piqued my interest. It sort of felt like I was in the interview with her. She explained how when she shops for costumes, she is in a meditative state while she puts herself into the character's shoes, to figure out how she wants to style and shop for them. She also mentions how she strives for more timeless looking costumes and pieces, which I think is super commendable coming from someone who adores timeless jewelry. Not the same, but I have an appreciation for timeless items.
Part of the reason I love this interview is because, of all the costume designers I know, the most successful (Natasha Newman-Thomas included) have EXTREMELY colorful backgrounds. I think part of the X-factor that leads to outstanding art is a unique perspective. Donna Zakowska studied art and painting before she found costuming, and it translates seamlessly into the designs she creates. Newman-Thomas’s background in flight school may not appear helpful at first, but it gives her an outlook that few other designers have. I also love the quote “Be clothes minded, not closed minded” and how it relates to costume shopping. I worked as a shopper for a designer over the summer, and I learned quickly to trust her vision. Most costumes are held together by styling and not individual pieces themselves (with some exceptions), and so most costumes will not feel complete until you see the full look together. Newman-Thomas’s confidence in her abilities and faith that she can create the “final look” before she’s seen it is the mark of a great designer—believing in your vision, even when people around you are skeptical, is a difficult skill to master.
This article is very interesting to me because costuming is the area that have the least experience with, which makes the deep dive into the way that Newman-Thomas designs costumes all the more interesting. I think the most vital piece of information in this artice is the quote “Costumes are the first place where you get to begin storytelling without actually knowing someone.” This illustrates a key aspect of costume design which is the characters being designed for are often not real. This adds another layer of consideration when designing a show and why each character wears what they do. Clothing is often the first expression of an individuals personality and using it effectively can communicate a character, mood, or personality to the audience without using any words. Designing is a very intense creative process for any field of theatre and costuming is no exception, even having more of a challenge because the characters personalities are not right in front of them to anazlyze and understand what they would wear for themselves. This article gave me a lot more insight into the design process and creative process for costume designers.
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