My work space is so visually crammed. It’s like an insane candy store. The number of textiles I’m surrounded with is mind boggling. It’s a treat to come home to a nice negative space. – Colleen Atwood
It’s often said that costume designers are a faceless group of people. But we can contribute to fashion in a way that might be new and different. – Colleen Atwood
For contemporary fashion, I’m a huge fan of so many of the people out there. I think Azzedine Alaia holds up through three generations of very specific, beautiful design. I think Jean Paul Gaultier also is very interesting with a long span. – Colleen Atwood
Inspiration comes from everywhere: books, art, people on the street. It is an interior process for me. – Colleen Atwood
I had to work out that it was something that could move, without having everybody in spray painted leotards. – Colleen Atwood
The thing that’s great about being a costume designer is you never know what’s going to be next; you never what world you are going to enter. – Colleen Atwood
I love designing costumes that I can actually construct, working to create an environment that people want to be in. – Colleen Atwood
As for futuristic costumes, I loved doing ‘Gattaca’ because I’m a minimalist at heart, and it’s a very minimal film. Plus, with Uma Thurman, Ethan Hawke and Jude Law, how could you go wrong? – Colleen Atwood
I think that sometimes people don’t understand that a costume that has to be worn every day and doesn’t change the whole movie becomes iconic. It’s very important because it requires a different design process, since you have to make something that people aren’t going to get tired of looking at. – Colleen Atwood
I wanted to be a painter when I was a kid. And then, I had to make a living. I had a child when I was in high school, so I kind of had that work phase in my life. – Colleen Atwood
Each simian had a much different body suit, so besides trying to define class across species, there was a definite attempt to dress each group in different styles. – Colleen Atwood
Costume design allows you to do a different type of research and create characters, whereas in fashion, you create an image and clothing for the masses. – Colleen Atwood
I have always loved beautiful leather objects, especially the detail that goes into designing them both inside and out. – Colleen Atwood
If you want someone to feel warm, you dress them in a warm color and put a warm light on them and you get the picture. Sometimes, all that needs pushing a little bit to help tell the story. – Colleen Atwood
Costume, hair and makeup can tell you instantly, or at least give you a larger perception of who a character is. It’s the first impression that you have of the character before they open their mouth, so it really does establish who they are. – Colleen Atwood
The right costume determines the character, helps the actor feel who he is, and serves the story. – Colleen Atwood
One of the challenges with period costumes is, on a technical level, making the scale of different periods work on contemporary bodies. We’re much bigger than what people were in older times. – Colleen Atwood
It actually is as fun to make men’s costumes, especially if they are as good-looking as Chris Hemsworth. – Colleen Atwood
The exposure I have had to beautiful materials across the world, from Japan to Italy, enables me to pull design ideas together. This, combined with years of historical research, has created a great fountain of ideas for me. – Colleen Atwood