Think designing costumes for a movie set in the modern day is just an excuse to go shopping? The costume designers behind this year’s biggest contemporary films say that idea could not be further from the truth. In Variety’s latest Artisans feature, designers from The Devil Wears Prada 2 to The Invite explain why dressing present-day characters is some of the hardest work in the business.
Molly Rogers (Credits: Variety)
Devil Wears Prada 2 Costume Designer Molly Rogers: “I Love to Shop” Is an Automatic Exit
Molly Rogers, the costume designer on The Devil Wears Prada 2, put it bluntly. Rogers — who worked as an assistant costume designer on the original 2006 film before stepping up to lead the sequel — said: “When someone comes up to me and says, ‘I really want to learn and work with you. I love to shop.’ That’s an automatic exit.”
Her point is that contemporary costume design is not about buying nice clothes. As the designers told Variety, every outfit is a storytelling decision — a character’s clothes have to reveal who they are, where they’ve been, and what they’re hiding, all without a single line of dialogue explaining it.
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The sequel, which reunites Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci under director David Frankel and writer Aline Brosh McKenna, flipped the usual power dynamic on its head. Instead of the costume department begging luxury houses for loans, designers and fashion houses reportedly flooded Rogers’ team with pieces, competing to see their creations on Miranda Priestly and company.
But an excess of choice brought its own headache: Rogers’ job shifted from hunter to editor, with the hardest part being deciding which “perfect” pieces to throw out. Following the approach of original designer Patricia Field, the sequel’s wardrobe aims for timelessness over trend-chasing — clothes meant to “pass the test of time” rather than date the film to a single season.
Why Contemporary Costume Design Is “Very Difficult”
The designers’ message is consistent: period and fantasy films get the glory because the craft is visible, but making a modern character’s wardrobe feel true is just as demanding. A contemporary costume has to look effortless while doing invisible narrative work — and unlike a period gown, the audience can spot a false note instantly because they see the same world every day.
So the next time someone says costume design for a modern movie is just shopping, the designers have a ready answer: “It’s very difficult.”
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Source: Variety — read the full story there.
