Fashionable Friday Costume Design Panel in West Hollywood

I recently attended a costume design panel discussion put on by FGI (Fashion Group Int'l).  The event was held in West Hollywood, at the Pacific Design Building.  This grand blue building on the corner of Melrose houses artists, interior design, and showrooms.  The location was perfect for the evening of refreshments, networking, and information.

Empowerment and  education...that was the theme of the night.
Nancy McCullough, entertainment law attorney, moderated the discussion with enthusiasm and skill.

The panel included six costume designers and one studio representative:
Janie Bryant - costume designer of Madmen,
Salvador Perez - president of Costume Designers Guild and costume designer for Pitch Perfect,
Arianne Philips - costume designer for Walk the Line,
Deborah Landis - PHd and director of costume design at UCLA,
Lynn Palo - costume designer for Scandal
Lindsey Camell - director of retail development at Universal Studios partnerships and licensing.

These are some of the most renowned costume designers in the business and between them share a great deal of knowledge. They are also some of the most innovative costume designers of our time pioneering new avenues for costume designers in retail. They introduced the topic of collaboration between costume designers and retail with the air of people who have worked in the film industry their entire lives. This is the first time in history that costume designers are moving into retail with the backing of the studio/producers.  With this trailblazing idea, many new questions arise regarding the business of developing a line directly from a movie.

Deborah stated, "Costume designers and fashion designers are separate commodities...fashion designers sell clothes, while costume designers sell tickets."  Crossovers between the two are just now beginning and collaborative models with costume designers, fashion designers, and studio are endless.
Janie told the audience about how she developed a very successful Madmen line for Banana Republic.  At first, when Banana Republic tried to promote regular clothing to "get the look", the idea failed.  But when they approached Janie for a collaboration, she designed an entire Madmen line that was true to the character and it sold out. Sometimes costumes, don't always stay costumes.  She had another success designing men's suits from Kingsmen.  Kingsmen suits became so popular that it is actually a well-know suit label in London still worn today.  Janie launched her collection at Men's Fashion Week in London.  Currently she is starting her own line with Blue Halo where she will do fashion designing separately.

For Lynn, a collaboration only works if your producer backs you. Just having returned from a job in Europe and a 30 hour flight, She said, "In costume design, it's not about trends.  It's important to stay true to the character."  She likes costume designing because she loves to tell stories with her designs.  She's currently working on her own line based on Scandal, but must separate her label from the show.  If she is to have rights over her line, she can't reference the show in her promotions.

Salvador Perez or Sal as his friends call him was adamant that inspiration for designs comes from the character. Quite literally in his case. With a limited selection of jewelry to choose from, Salvador decided to create his own line of chunky jewelry in collaboration with the Bauble Bar.  He used his designs as part of the costume for Mindy Kaling (from the Mindy Project) and the actress fell in love the pieces. When Mindy asked if she could buy them he was inspired to launch his own line with the Bauble Bar based on the jewelry used in the show.

As always in the film industry everyone knew everyone, and that's why when I asked where they found inspiration for their designs in their lines outside the costumes, they all looked at one another and agreed that it was from the characters in their shows. Living and breathing the movie seemed to be the consensus. I loved hearing the interesting tales of these accomplished people. Each one has their own vision of what costume design will look like in the future and they are working to make it happen.