Voice Of Costume - The Untold Stories of Unseen Artists

How do you hand-craft costumes for a nine-foot-tall alien—and then rebuild them digitally? Listen in to this episode about Avatar: Fire and Ash to hear how it's done. In this deep-dive conversation, legendary costume designer Deborah L. Scott (Avatar, Titanic, Back to the Future, E.T.) joins Catherine Baumgardner to unpack the astonishing creative process behind Avatar: Fire and Ash. Scott reveals how every Na'vi costume begins with story, environment, and research—then moves through hands-on workshops, material experimentation, and ultimately into the virtual world of VFX. They explore how Weta Workshop artisans, illustrators, and visual-effects teams collaborate to translate handcrafted garments—made from organic textures, carved elements, feathers, bone-like structures, and woven fibers—into believable digital performances. Scott explains why 3D printing is used sparingly, how movement in wind and water dictates material choices, and why tactile realism often beats high-tech shortcuts. The discussion expands into the design of new Na'vi clans, including the Wind Traders and the volcanic Fire/Ash clan, highlighting how climate, culture, color palettes, body art, hair design, and symbolism shape identity and storytelling. Scott also reflects on collaboration with James Cameron, creative intuition, trusting process over perfection, and why costume designers rarely receive royalties despite defining iconic characters. This episode is a masterclass in world-building, costume design, filmmaking collaboration, VFX integration, and creative resilience, offering invaluable insight for filmmakers, designers, and storytellers alike.  The "Voice of Costume" is the first podcast created between working costume designers sharing stories, inspiration, struggles, and insights into the creative career of costume design. A behind-the-scenes podcast to showcase the voices of Costume Designers around the world. Listen in on this inspirational, one-on-one conversation with Catherine Baumgardner. Audio available wherever you get podcasts. https://voiceofcostume.com/    

She doesn't design clothes—she designs stories. 3-time Oscar-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan shares how storytelling, instinct, and courage—not fashion—have shaped a career spanning over 70 films. This episode focusing on her most recent film, The Choral. In this deeply inspiring conversation, Jenny reflects on growing up without television, building entire worlds from cardboard boxes, and how a single childhood encounter with Shakespeare set her life's direction. She traces her unconventional path from theatre and opera to film, revealing how saying yes to uncertainty—and embracing fear—became one of her greatest creative strengths. Together, Jenny and host Catherine Baumgardner explore the true role of costume design as invisible storytelling: creating characters audiences believe in without ever noticing the clothes. Jenny breaks down her process—from script analysis and historical research to building costumes in full 3D on mannequins—and explains why collaboration, humility, and learning every craft on the way up matter more than titles or awards. She opens up about working under extreme pressure on films like Mad Max: Fury Road and Cruella, why failure is essential to growth, and how leadership in creative fields is less about control and more about trust. Packed with life advice for artists, filmmakers, designers, and students, this episode is a masterclass in creativity, resilience, and staying curious—no matter how far you've come. The "Voice of Costume" is the first podcast created between working costume designers sharing stories, inspiration, struggles, and insights into the creative career of costume design. A behind-the-scenes podcast to showcase the voices of Costume Designers around the world. Listen in on this inspirational, one-on-one conversation with Catherine Baumgardner. Audio available wherever you get podcasts. https://voiceofcostume.com/

From shy theater kid to Disney+ horror powerhouse—Goosebumps costume designer Vanessa Porter reveals how wardrobe secretly drives fear, character, and story. In this in-depth conversation, host Catherine Baumgardner sits down with Vanessa Porter, the costume designer for Disney+'s Goosebumps, to unpack how wardrobe becomes a powerful storytelling tool in modern television and horror. Vanessa traces her journey from a quiet, shy childhood into high-school theater, CalArts training, indie film work, and eventually major studio series—highlighting how theater and film costume design overlap, and where they radically differ. The discussion dives deep into Goosebumps: balancing grounded realism with heightened horror, designing for fast production timelines, and using color palettes, textures, silhouettes, and fit to express character arcs. Vanessa breaks down specific examples—like Cassie's shift from rigid, perfectionist outfits to looser, more casual looks—and how subtle wardrobe changes track emotional growth. She also explores genre blending (horror, comedy, coming-of-age), Easter-egg inspirations from classic films like Christine, Rosemary's Baby, and 1970s horror, and how costume can quietly influence actor performance. Beyond Goosebumps, the conversation expands into career advice for designers, collaboration under pressure, working with young actors, defining success beyond awards, and why costume design communicates emotional truth that dialogue alone cannot. A must-listen for filmmakers, costume designers, theater artists, horror fans, and film students interested in visual storytelling and character-driven design. The "Voice of Costume" is the first podcast created between working costume designers sharing stories, inspiration, struggles, and insights into the creative career of costume design. A behind-the-scenes podcast to showcase the voices of Costume Designers around the world. Listen in on this inspirational, one-on-one conversation with Catherine Baumgardner. Audio available wherever you get podcasts. https://voiceofcostume.com/

Costume designer Małgosia Turzańska reveals the emotional secrets, symbolic textures, and behind-the-scenes artistry that shaped Hamnet—and how grief, intuition, and collaboration transformed the film from the inside out. In this deeply human conversation, Hamnet costume designer Małgosia Turzańska opens up about creativity, vulnerability, and the profound emotional undercurrents that guided her work. She shares how a missed chemistry test led her to filmmaking, how one breathtaking Almodóvar film unlocked her understanding of costume design, and how she builds characters from raw instinct—starting with "emotional lookbooks" drawn from nature, texture, and intuition rather than pure historical rigor. Małgosia discusses designing Agnes (Anne) and Will from the inside out, using bark cloth, color symbolism, quilted protection, and slashed leather to reflect trauma, longing, generational wounds, and rebirth. She details working with director Chloé Zhao, describing a process fueled by continuous discovery, voice-memo inspirations, and a film family centered on empathy and emotional truth. The conversation grows especially moving as Małgosia describes losing her father during production, and how grief intertwined with the film's themes, becoming both a burden and a blessing. She reflects on collaboration, artistry as healing, and the myth that costume design is "just decoration"—revealing instead how costumes become storytelling engines. This intimate, vulnerable episode is a masterclass in creativity, symbolism, filmmaking, and the emotional backbone of collaborative art. The "Voice of Costume" is the first podcast created between working costume designers sharing stories, inspiration, struggles, and insights into the creative career of costume design. A behind-the-scenes podcast to showcase the voices of Costume Designers around the world. Listen in on this inspirational, one-on-one conversation with Catherine Baumgardner. Audio available wherever you get podcasts. https://voiceofcostume.com/

From Wizards Beyond Waverly Place to Sweet Magnolias, Disney costume designer Cameron Dale reveals how she went from sketching dresses as a six-year-old to dressing some of TV's most beloved characters. In this lively conversation, Cameron shares how she balances creativity and motherhood, the unspoken rules of Disney costume design, and how to make magical worlds feel authentic on screen. She talks about collaborating with Selena Gomez and David Henrie, designing for child actors, and why color, texture, and story are everything in a kids' show. You'll hear her funniest on-set mishaps (including a punk jacket that met a baby prop), the secret to capturing that unmistakable "Disney look," and the perspective she gained after losing her home in the California fires. Whether you're a costume designer, filmmaker, or creative parent, this episode is full of heart, humor, and practical inspiration from a designer who has truly earned her magic wand. www.voiceofcostume.com