The Art of Costume

I'm pleased to welcome Margy Kinmonth onto this week's podcast to discuss Russian stage costume. Margy is a BAFTA-winning film director and producer with particular expertise in Russian culture. Her theatrical feature films include; Revolution – New Art for a New World, marking the 1917 Russian Revolution, the Hermitage Revealed, a behind the scenes tour of the remarkable museum and the Mariinsky Theatre, Nutcracker Story which examined Tchaikovsky's ballet for ITV. Margy is an exceptional story-teller, well-known for unearthing hidden secrets behind sometimes overlooked subjects. I'm very much looking forward to finding out more about the inspiring ballet costumes that have graced The Mariinsky Theatre's famous stage in St Petersburg and to learn about the avant-garde style of the Ballet Russes.

Michele is a 6-time Emmy and 3-time bafta award-winning British costume designer recognized for her groundbreaking use of material and fascinating character depth. Her work is almost impossible to characterize, as her costumes have encompassed multiple regions, time periods, and fantastical worlds. She is well-known for her designs in television and film; a few of her career highlights include The Devil's Whore, Game of Thrones, The Crown, Mama Mia, and the soon to be released film The Secret Garden.

Lily and Edie Ashely are on the ‘Art of Costume' this week! The Welsh-born sisters are a complete archetype of all things costume. Lily is an actor, performer and poet. She trained at the Ecole Philippe Gaulier, and makes up one half of the musical theatre duo “Voo Le Voo.” She's performed at a range of artistic institutions and venues such as The V&A Museum, The Courtauld Gallery and the Cockpit Theatre. Edie, her sister, is a fashion and costume designer. Edie recently launched her first fashion collection ‘BOLT X Edie' at Paris Fashion Week in collaboration with Bolt Motorcycles and has designed the costumes for James Blake's latest music video. I'm looking forward to exploring costume from two perspectives: the designer and the performer.

I'm incredibly excited to have Darnell-Jamal Lisby on ‘The Art of Costume' this week. Darnell is a fashion historian and curator and broadcaster based in New York. He has contributed to a range of curatorial efforts at esteemed institutions such as the Fashion Institute of Technology, Cooper Hewitt Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. His writing has been published on platforms such as FIT's Fashion History Timeline, the Fashion and Race Database, and Vogue. Darnell's passion pertains to exploring the art historical context surrounding the juxtaposition between Blackness and the history of fashion, so I'm honoured to be discussing costume and race with him on today's episode.

I'm very excited to have costume designer Charlotte Mitchell on this week's podcast. Before working in costume Charlotte studied fashion and textiles at Central Saint Martins, and after graduating became a buyer in fashion. Making the move into film and television, she trained at the renowned costume house Cosprop, before embarking on a successful career as a freelance costume designer. Charlotte is well-known for her extraordinary designs for Killing Eve season 2, which she was nominated for a costume designer guild award, as well as the popular Hulu series Harlots. More recently, her work on the adaptation of Agathor Christie's The Pale Horse was screened on the BBC in February. Charlotte's attention to detail, drawing skills and character work is unparalleled and I'm looking forward to discussing psychology and costume on today's episode.

I'm pleased to introduce Professor Shahidha Bari in conversation with emerging artist Laila Majid. Shahidha read English at Kings College, Cambridge, where she was awarded a PhD in philosophy and poetry, and has also studied at Cornell. She currently teaches at London College of Fashion, where she is a Professor of Fashion Cultures and Histories. Her writing has appeared in Frieze, The Guardian, The Times Literary Supplement, and the Financial Times, to name a few. In addition, Shahidha is a regular presenter on BBC Radio 3's Arts and Ideas programme, and on BBC Radio 4's Front Row. In 2011, Bari was selected as one of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers. Shahidha's book 'Dressed: The Secret Life of Clothes' was released in 2019, in which she explores our complex relationships with the clothes we wear.

I'm happy to introduce Glyn Fussell on the podcast this week. Glyn is a man of many talents. Ten years ago he founded the innovative London club night 'Sink the Pink'.  Renowned for its drag queens showered in glitter, and costumed party-goers, Glyn aimed to change the UK's approach to clubbing by creating care-free uninhibited nights out. His collective has collaborated with brands such as Selfridges, YSL and Sony to increase LGBT+ visibility. Most recently, Glyn has been the host of the 2nd most popular podcast on BBC Sounds Radio 1 “Drag Queens Den” where he discusses drag alongside queens from across the country.

I'm very excited to have the writer, curator and academic Dr Aoife Monks on the ‘The Art of Costume'. Born in Ireland, Aoife studied at Trinity College Dublin before moving to London in 2003 where her career began as a Senior Lecturer of Theatre and Performance studies at Birkbeck. In 2014 she took up a Readership in Drama at Queen Mary University of London, where she's currently the Arts and Culture academic lead. Aoife is the author of ‘The Actor in Costume,' she's co-authored ‘Costume: Readings in Theatre Practice' and has written numerous articles about contemporary performance and costume. Aoife's work has been pivotal in shedding light on the often forgotten importance of costume within the academic sphere. Most recently, her long-standing research in the field culminated in the ground-breaking 2019-2020 exhibition ‘Costume at the National Theatre.'

Genie Kausto is a creative costume duo based in New York made up of hair artist Evanie Frausto and artist George Kan. The pair morph themselves into extreme characters in their photographic self-costumed portraits portraits to playfully challenge beauty norms and stereotypes. On this episode we discuss their phenomenal lockdown photoshoot 'Inside and Occupied' featured in Paper Magazine, as well as discussing what is means to look WRONG!

Jane Smith, also known as ‘Jane the hat' is a legendary hat maker in the world of costume for film.  She has hatted the likes of Keneth Branagh, Judy Dench and Morgan Freeman, created hats for the Harry Potter films ,Ridley Scott and worked with a phenomenal range of costume designers such as Eiko Ishoka, Jaqueline Durran and Michael O'Connor.  Before making for film and theatre, Jane studied sculpture, worked in props and then soon after became principal hat maker for Laura Ashley. She has even made the headdresses for Henry 8th tableau of wives at Madame Tussauds….