Cruella costume designer Jenny Beavan: I like to tell stories through costumes

Two-time Academy Award-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan speaks about working on Disney’s latest release, Cruella, which stars Emma Stone and Emma Thompson

Bhuvanesh Chandar

(Originally published on 29th August 2021)

Madame Cruella de Vil has finally set her diamond heels in India! Disney’s latest release has Emma Stone embodying a young version of the fan-favourite villainess Cruella, as she locks horns with Emma Thompson’s Baroness, another fashion legend. Everything about this film screams style, and two-time Academy Award-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan says that the script had so much detail that the pressure didn’t matter. “It was clear on the characters’ arc and their progress and how the costumes would evolve alongside. For me, it’s not about the clothes; it’s about telling stories through them.”

The designer needed a starting point to get into the process of designing the clothes Cruella wears in this film. “A young Cruella starts putting together clothes from her mother’s laundry basket. So, here’s a creative child who loves clothes and is clever about how she puts her ideas together. Later, in high school, she is a rebel, and there, the uniform she wears becomes an integral part. All of this guided me,” she says. “The challenge comes when Cruella joins Baroness and becomes a talented designer herself. We had an amazing crew who were working on all these ideas.”

Jenny attributes the creative output to teamwork, which she says involved lead actor Emma Stone too. “We did a test shoot and took all these massive costumes to her to check how they fit her. She was gracious and welcoming throughout the process.” The actor, Jenny says, was key to selling the costumes to the audience. “Emma poses with them, like she owns them. The costumes too were fun and comfortable to wear. We couldn’t take too much time, as her schedule was rather tight.” Though many costumes from the look test didn’t…..

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