The Oscar nominations for Best Costume Design might be heavy on the period pieces, but Black Panther's genre-spanning prowess could tip the balance in favour of the Marvel blockbuster. So believes Christopher Laverty, author of Fashion in Film.
While the fashion world is whipping itself into a frenzy over Sandy Powell's monochrome concept in The Favourite and the sumptuous depth of colour and texture in Alexandra Byrne's Mary Queen of Scots, Christopher Laverty, author and creator of the website Clothes on Film is insistent that there is more to costume design than historic dress: 'The Academy always goes for the most eye-catching period and occasionally fantasy wear because this is all they think costume design is. Nothing can and will ever change until they expand the categories to include contemporary as a separate nomination. That said, all the nominees are excellent examples of the craft. No surprises, but that in itself is not a surprise.'
'Something like Red Sparrow, as costumed by Trish Summerville, which features stylish, well thought out and contextually accurate costume design will never be recognised by the Academy because it's just viewed as fashion or shopping. I honestly think some of the voters believe that Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Lawrence just picked their own clothes off a rack and turned up for work one day. It is that misunderstood. Black Panther combines contemporary clothing with traditional, indigenous and fantasy dress – it has sort of 'sneaked' contemporary costume in there.'
And, in Laverty's opinion the difficulties of recreating more recent history is woefully overlooked too, despite the added pressure of matching up to living memory: 'Bohemian Rhapsody is not a great movie in my opinion, but the costume design is superb. Recreating iconic costumes from a relatively fresh era is incredibly difficult. There is so much audience expectation – people all know Freddie's outfits inside and out. One slip and it'll be noticed. I thought costume designer Julian Day did stellar work at balancing the inherent outrageousness of the periods, too. There was nothing cartoony here; the clothes felt real in context. I guess it wasn't loud enough for the Academy. I think Day will do better for his work on the upcoming Elton John biopic Rocketman at the 2020 Oscars. Colette, as costumed by Andrea Flesch, was just an incredibly precise and beautifully detailed period work with clever use of colour. Again, the movie, and the costumes, were probably not in-your-face-enough for the Academy. Costume design has to be highly visible to excite the voters – it's all they understand of the craft.'
And while it's easy to link visual threads between historical dress and current trends, Laverty believes that it's coincidence rather than anything more symbiotic: 'Period costume design, and I'm talking a deep dive 100 years ago or more, is influenced almost entirely by the era itself. I don't know a costume designer working today that would look to the fashion industry in creating their period costumes. Of course there is crossover, and a much, much wider conversation to be had, but the media will always pull whatever they can from any popular movie. Saying The Favourite, for example, has influenced any current fashion designs or trends is a major stretch, and yet I have read articles implying this. Frankly the notion is nonsensical and exposes a catastrophic failure to understand how both these industries work.'
Despite appearing as an outlier, Laverty believes that, come February 24 Black Panther's genre-bending approach will be rewarded with the ultimate accolade. 'I think that Black Panther will win and it should win,' says Laverty. 'Ruth E. Carter is a huge talent who has been overlooked for years because she takes on generally less Academy-friendly projects. This is her magnum opus though; if she is not rewarded for Black Panther it will be one of the gravest miscarriages of Academy justice ever. All the other nominees are fantastic, and goodness knows I adore every single thing that Sandy Powell has ever done, but this is Ruth Carter's time – frankly it's Black Panther's time. It's a staggering achievement and a deserved winner.'
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