Essence | Essence: From her parent’s house in Ontario, Canada, the first thing costume designer Antoinette Messam does during our Zoom is open up the curtains to let more light in. It illuminated her glowing, supple skin. This action of ushering in light became symbolic of Messam’s career throughout our time together. Her career has taken her on an impressive journey, and it has led to her working on films with directors who are household names such as Jeymes Samuel.
1 comment:
Its really interesting to me how many costume designers and technicians get their start in the fashion world before transitioning into theatre. I met costume designer once who said she will hire interns- one from the theatrical world, and one from the fashion world- and that the fashion-based ones are always more competent when it comes to clothing-specific tasks like picking out fabric or sewing fast enough because they tend to have more experience in those fields. The skills you can accrue in the fashion world- the quick sewing, the sourcing of materials, the fast paced environment, the INCREDIBLY strong focus on building connections- all translate incredibly well into being a good costumer. Another thing that caught my eye in this article is the discussion about how black costume designers often get overlooked, "save the very prominent ones". It has been so awesome to see Paul Tazewell being celebrated due to his Oscar, but the article is right- we need to make more space to recognize even more of those in the industry, more than one person acknowledged by the academy.
Post a Comment