Danny Jarabek
Colleen Atwood is one of Hollywood’s most celebrated costume designers, with a career spanning decades and four Academy Award wins to her name for Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha, Alice in Wonderland, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Long known for her transformative collaborations with director Tim Burton, Atwood has designed some of cinema and television’s most iconic looks. Her latest creative playground is Wednesday, Netflix’s darkly comedic coming-of-age series centered on Wednesday Addams, the deadpan daughter of the legendary Addams Family. The show, a massive global hit starring Jenna Ortega, returns for its highly anticipated second season, bringing with it fresh challenges, deeper character arcs, and bold new visuals. In this interview, Atwood reflects on her creative partnership with Burton, the design philosophy driving Season 2’s wardrobe, and what it was like to costume a true pop icon this season.
How has your creative relationship with Tim Burton evolved over time through the projects you’ve collaborated on leading up to Wednesday?
Colleen Atwood: My relationship with Tim is continually changing with each project. As we have worked together we have developed a shorthand in some ways but it always feels fresh as each challenge approaches.
What were the most important factors about the direction of Season 2 that informed how you adapted the wardrobe from Season 1?
Colleen Atwood: The idea of the characters evolving and growing up, learning about themselves and their powers really drove our concepts for this season.
The contrast between Wednesday and Enid is critical to the story and the costumes are a huge reflection of that. What was your thought process in developing their dynamic?
Colleen Atwood: Their dynamic is more complex this season as Enid is going through a sort of isolation that Wednesday understands, so Wednesday becomes her defender and advocate in a dynamic new way.
Wednesday and Morticia are primarily dressed in black and white. What techniques did you use to elevate the looks within this constraint?
Colleen Atwood: The juxtaposition of texture and reflective surfaces along with black next to white or red (Morticia) helped break it up a little.
The iconic Lady Gaga makes a guest appearance this season. What was it like working with her?
Colleen Atwood: Stefani is an amazing actor and artist so it was fun to create a character with her unlike stage performance costumes.
Given the richness of its fantasy and vastness of its world, what have you enjoyed most about crafting the wardrobe of this series?
Colleen Atwood: The real support and excitement of the cast as each new scene or episode exploded was both a joy and a challenge.
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