Sandy Powell and Mark Bridges on TCM’s ‘Follow the Thread’ Series, Costume Design and Their Favorite Transformations

variety.com:

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorTCM and HBO Max’s new series “Follow the Thread” brings costume designers and fashion designers together as it examines the relationship between fashion and costume.Inspired by the Met’s Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute’s exhibition, “In America: An Anthology of Fashion,” the series include designers Sandy Powell, Mark Bridges, Isis Mussenden and Deborah Nadoolman Landis as the world of costume design and fashion design come together.

The limited series covers a spectrum of films from 1954’s “Sabrina” to 1957’s “Funny Face” to “Annie Hall” (1977) through to “Crazy Rich Asians” showing how film influences culture and impact fashion.Speaking with Variety, Powell, Bridges, Mussenden and Nadoolman Landis discuss what drew them to the series, the biggest misconception about costume design and share their favorite transformations. Deborah Nadoolman Landis: I was a little ambivalent.

While I loved the title, the truth about costume design is that it should disappear into the tapestry of the narrative. The word ‘thread’ means a lot to me, but it was the subtitle that shook me up a little bit, which was about fashion and film.My name is not sewn into the clothes and that’s a big issue for all costume designers.

I don’t have a label, I don’t have a brand and I can’t sell the licensing for sheets and towels. I work for hire. I love fashion, and I didn’t want to add to the confusion between our production processes.